LMDG  Lory's Majestic Dating Game :: Month Hiatus
by MysticSorceror
Summary: When Lory arranges a bachelor type TV show starring Ren he makes sure to put the LoveMe members in the show in disguise. Will Ren be able to find Kyoko when she's disguised as someone else or will he leave the show without knowing true love?
1. Prologue

**So I keep having these random ideas and yes this does mean I'll be working on five or so fics but I really wanted to keep myself busy and this idea popped into my head. I also update my stories once I feel people are interested so if you like this or any of my fics please review. Also my prologues are often short so the next chapter will be longer.**

**LMDG: Lory's Majestic Dating Game**

**Prologue**

It was a hot July day as Lory lay out in front of his TV playing his latest romance game. This day had been completely frustrating for him. First there had been the completion of Tragic Marker and the completion of the Heel siblings and secondly Ren had called telling him he was no longer going to accept domestic jobs and was going to look for international ones. Kyoko had even been sought out by Director Konoe and offered a part in his next drama, but there were still a few more months between then and now.

He sighed, when were those two idiots of love going to realize and confess their feelings to each other. He switched off the dating simulation game since Kenji, the male character he had chosen, was getting upset and then looked at the TV. There were different dramas he could watch but Kuu's latest movie was going to be shown on one of the American channels he subscribed to. He wanted to watch it out of interest, it would of course be interesting to see the difference between Tsuruga Ren and his father in terms of acting ability.

Before the movie though he found himself switching onto a program he often enjoyed about a bachelor dating and choosing between various women with a wide smile he nodded. He had a little time, about twelve to thirteen weeks to play with. He would do it! He would put Ren in a show like this if it killed him and then disguise Kyoko and the rest of the Love Me girls up as contestants as well as casting a few others.

Switching on his emails he emailed a few people in the TV industry before writing two very specific emails. One addressed to the LoveMe girls and one addressed to Ren.

**Twenty Minutes Later**

Kyoko frowned as she looked at the email on her phone, she stared at it her eyes wide with fear.

_To Miss Amamiya, Miss Kotonami, and Miss Mogami_

_I am hereby ordering you as LoveMe members to participate in a role where if you are to win you will be released from the Love Me section. If you are to refuse however, I will remove you from the Love Me section itself as you have obviously not understood the meaning of you being here. If you lose however you will be free to continue with what you are doing._

_I am asking for you three to go in disguise to a little project of mine where you will be playing characters on a national TV show. You will be starring across from Tsuruga Ren and I imagine that if you are your characters it will be a huge hit._

_Summon up your courage ladies and show me I can believe in you as Love Me members,_

_Love_

_~ President Takarada_

Kyoko frowned knowing that this was going to be something she'd regret but why were the stakes so high? Removing people from the Love Me section! She panicked, well if she lost she wouldn't have any punishment so was it alright to try to purposefully lose? And it was a character. She smiled thinking about Ren and then nodded, she'd try it...whatever the president had planned.

**One Hour Later**

Ren looked at his phone as he had just finished a couple of modeling and advertisement shoots that day. He frowned at it, reading the email.

_Ren,_

_As you are a member of LME, I feel comfortable writing to tell you that I have created a show where you are to be the lead character. If you refuse I truly fear for you as an actor and will not hesitate to tell you the reasons I feel you should stick to domestic jobs however if you prove to me that your acting techniques are with the highest members of the elite in Hollywood I will use every connection I can think of to get you the roles you desire most before you get there. _

_Try to do the right thing_

_Also you'll be starring across from Kyoko...don't let her down_

_~President Takarada_

"The right thing?" Ren asked lifting an eyebrow, he sighed knowing he should never agree to anything the president had planned, "What would be the right thing?" he asked aloud but since he had no other jobs right then wouldn't it be best just to agree? And he'd get to work with Kyoko for the last time. He nodded and then gave the affirmative answer.


	2. Chapter One :: Meet The Girls

**So I had the choice behind choosing girls from the series or making Ocs, I hope people prefer this choice although it makes it so I have to make sure to read the chapters several times. Please continue to support me.**

**Chapter One :: Meet the Girls**

Kyoko looked at Lory as she sat in his office open mouthed, "Appear as...someone who wants to capture Tsuruga-san's heart?" she repeated before looking at him. "Please allow me to reject this offer," she said as he sighed.

"I didn't know that you'd like to quit LME now and go to another agency," he said with a frown, "Afterall the point of you being in the Love Me section is to experience love and since this is a show directed by Shinkai Seishi, with the host as Hizuri Kuu, the bachelor being Tsuruga Ren, and me producing...why I didn't think that you'd deny yourself such a chance."

Kyoko froze, "Kuu-san..." _The president has even gone so far as to bother Kuu-san with this nonsense, why did father even accept such a role? _"Well..." she looked down, "If even Kuu-sama is involved." She froze before looking at Lory nervously, "Still please allow me not to do this and remain at LME, I can not be someone who wins Tsuruga-san's heart"

"Then you have nothing to worry about," Lory smiled at her, "You'll get booted off on the first episode and will be rewarded for your participation."

"But...President!" Kyoko protested, "Tsuruga-san knows me, surely he'll just keep me around to have someone to torture."

Lory blinked before lifting a finger, "That is why each girl will be in disguise," he told her as Kyoko blinked. "I have a team involved in transformations and of course makeup."

Kyoko blinked before shaking her head, "Even if Muse is involved!" she said quickly, "Tsuruga-san will still see through me."

"Not just Ten-chan but Julienna Hizuri as well," he said as Kyoko's eyes widened and she looked anxious as that was said. "They'll be making a disguise for each of the ten contestants...most of which still need to be auditioned for."

"Even Julienna Hizuri is under the President's thumb," she muttered as Lory looked at her.

"You won't be the only Love Me member competing either...if you must know Amamiya and Koto-"

"Kanae-san would never agree to this," Kyoko denied and Lory rubbed his chin

"It seems Kotoname-san agreed with the intent to make herself undesirable to Ren," Lory replied, "I told her that she must take this seriously but you..." he pointed at Kyoko, "Must take this even more seriously than anyone else."

"Wh-but for Tsuruga-san to be bothered by someone who doesn't want to be there, I'm just his kouhai, surely there are others wanting to star across from Tsuruga-san," she said with a stone face as if she was imprisoned by Lory.

"You wouldn't want someone else to take Ren's heart do you?" he asked as Kyoko blushed and he smiled before hearing her next words.

"Why would I care about such an indecisive thing such as someone's heart," Kyoko replied before looking down. She heard a knock on the door and then turned around to see Ren there, she bowed deeply to both him and the president before leaving.

**One Week Later**

Kyoko looked at Kanae and Chiori as they sat in the room where seven other girls were sitting. She looked around to find some familiar faces and then paused, these were all familiar faces...celebrities. She nervously looked down, sitting in her Love Me uniform before noticing Itsumi and Airi come over to her. "Kyoko-chan," Itsumi beamed at the girl, "Isn't it great that we'll be working together again."

"Momose-san! Oohara-san!" Kyoko said nervously before bowing, "Surely you two can't be interested in Tsuruga-san" _if these two were really interested why didn't they ask Tsuruga-san if they could go on a date with him when we were all filming Dark Moon together?_

"Well I'm interested in him, he always had such clear views about acting," Airi smiled, "But I always got the impression that he was interested in you Mogami-san," she tapped her cheek thinking about it. "It would be nice to see what he's really like in his personal life and if he's a good cook or not."

Kyoko looked at her with widened eyes and then thought about the monster, "No...he's not." Her face turned to stone, "And please do not talk about me in relation to Tsuruga-san like that...there is no way. You are mistaking Tsuruga Ren's torture techniques for actual affection."

Kanae looked at Kyoko with a roll of her eyes, _She can't be serious, it's pretty obvious that it's her he likes. The president probably knows this too, if she can just be honest about how he feels towards her and give him a definite no then I wouldn't be in this mess...of course, _she sighed, _if she was like that then she wouldn't be her._

"I'm more interested in the other prizes and a chance to win, I mean work opposite Tsuruga-san again," Itsumi rubbed her back, "I'm feeling that as long as I don't win it'll be alright because the top two contestants will be shown around America by Hizuri Kuu to the top directors and producers in the field. Although I'd like to get famous by my own talent, meeting the connections that Hizuri-san knows could advance my career. It's an opportunity of a life time. Surely that's why you're here too Kyoko-chan, I mean if you don't hold an interest in Tsuruga-san."

"I was forced here," Kyoko said bluntly, she looked down, "It's true that Tsuruga-san has shown an interest in me but it is an interest for all the wrong reasons. I never knew about the other prizes until today."

She froze before seeing someone else she knew, this time a fellow cast member from Box R. She smiled at Yuka knowing her interest and passion towards Ren and suddenly felt a little lonely. If only Tsuruga-san hadn't agreed to do this then...she shook her head, no even if he had decided not to do this the president would still bring in another actor and still rope Kuu-sama here.

Yuka came over tot her before smiling at Itsumi and Airi in shock, "I...didn't know such talented actresses would be here," she told them as Itsumi shook her head and Airi laughed weakly. "To think that we're all in the same boat. This will be my first time working with Tsuruga-san, I really want to make my best impression so that he chooses me."

"Well," Airi chuckled, "That makes us competitors. Let's let the right match for Tsuruga-san win," she looked at Kyoko as she said that before turning back to Yuka and bowed.

"Yes," she looked down, "I understand why you two would need disguises and Kyoko-san too, but don't you think that giving everyone disguises is going a little too far, I mean Tsuruga Ren doesn't even care I exist," she said sadly before Kyoko stood up.

"That's not true, Tsuruga-san cares about anyone who does the best job that they can. I'm sure that you stand a chance because Tsuruga-san likes young girls," she said as Kanae flinched as Chiori started writing down hateful remarks in her notebook.

_He probably made you think that because he likes you, _Kanae said as she caught a few words on Chiori's paper such as 'pedophile' and 'pervert'. _She really dislikes him doesn't she? _Kanae asked herself before seeing a few more people come in. She froze, wasn't that Ruriko Matsunai?

Kyoko's eyes darted to Ruriko too who stared at her in shock, she paused remembering one of her first LoveMe tasks and then looked down. Had Ruriko changed after she gave her, Kyoko, that 100 point stamp? Kyoko stood up and looked at Ruriko who paused.

_It's that girl! _Ruriko thought to herself, _Why is she here? I didn't think she showed an interest in love especially the kind of love I hold for Ren-san? I've known Ren-san longer than her though! So..._ she stuck her chin in the air and Kyoko noticed that she still had a sense of arrogance. Instead of returning that arrogance she smiled at her remembering those memories, she felt she had changed a lot since that time.

Kyoko looked at two girls as they came in after Ruriko, she was sure that she had seen one of them before before freezing, however wasn't that Mitsui Manaka standing next to her? She paused as Kanae stared at her before feeling Chiori's rage. The group which had gathered around Kyoko looked at Chiori who seemed about to snap. Kyoko however was still staring at Mitsui hoping she didn't get recognized by her, she looked down nervously as Mitsui stared at her not understanding her confusion. Hopefully Tsuruga-san did nothing to remind her of BJ or Cain Heel.

Looking at Chiori she heard the words, "Why is she here?" be whispered and blinked.

"Who?" she looked at the other girl who had entered. She slightly recognized her from something horrible, she paused...wasn't that Michiko Kawagoe! No wonder Chiori was angry, "Amamiya-chan..." she said nervously before the pen snapped in half and her demons went wild.

As everyone started to sit down Kyoko noticed there was one empty seat, who was it? Someone she hadn't met probably, not that she had met Michiko properly and not that Mitsui knew she was there. She felt her heartbeat race before hearing someone dash in and then paused.

Honoka Ootomo...what was she doing there?


	3. Chapter Two :: A Short Introduction

**So this chapter is really short but I think I'm going to write it in one short chapter, two to three longer chapters as the weeks progress throughout this fic.**

**Also if anyone has any ideas for disguises they'd like to see these girls do then please let me know. If I use your idea I will of course give you credit.**

**Chapter Three :: A Short Introduction**

Kyoko froze as she saw Seishi sitting in the corner looking quite nervous, this was because everyone was waiting for the main guest of honor, the host of the show and the mentor and adviser to the girls, Kuu Hizuri and his wife. Seishi had worked with the greats, he'd worked with Ren now a couple of times and even Taira, the new up and comer.

"So," he said standing before the girls before hearing the organizer enter by the sound of horns and an entire brass band. "I present President Takarada," he said, "He will be our producer this time." There was the sound of clapping, forced clapping coming from the Love Me section, and cheering from around the room.

"So..." Airi asked looking at Itsumi who was laughing at this commotion, she wasn't part of LME but had definitely heard of the president's wild acts, it made it so much more interesting. "What are you thinking? You still up for this?"

"Of course because..." she looked to see a group of men behind him and then Kuu Hizuri with Julienna on his arm. "It's still Hizuri-san, it's still a chance to get seen even if it is in character and the characters are being revealed to the audience just not to Tsuruga-san himself, just appearing on this show will give me a chance to talk to Kuu-san," she smiled. _From him I'll learn the secrets to beating Ren._

Kanae paused as she blinked, so the president really had asked Kuu in order to make the thing bigger and even his wife was appearing to do makeup and costume, it really was going to be one of those highly popularized series'...better to get out of it as quick as possible. She looked at Kyoko, for her it was probably not that easy. "You okay about this?" Kanae asked as Kyoko blushed deeply and stood up.

"Father!" she called out as everyone looked at her, "Welcome home!"

"Father?" Chiori blinked as Kanae groaned

"One of her roles," she whispered to her, "I'd ignore it," she stood up before pulling Kyoko down as Kuu nodded to her and smiled. "Don't let them think you're getting special treatment, the president set this up for you..." she said in a way only Kyoko could hear but Kyoko blinked looking at her friend.

"Set this up for _me_?" she asked before quickly shaking her head, "No, he set this up for Tsuruga-san, so that Tsuruga-san could have romance." She laughed, "There's no way that the president would set this up for me."

_He set it up so that Tsuruga could have romance with you, _she thought looking at Kyoko who had now sat down.

Chiori was sending death glares during this time at Michiko whilst writing down hateful thoughts on this girl who she had had to write numerous reviews of. There was nothing good about her, probably why she'd win. She sighed, there was no way she could win but the president agreed that for every week she lasted he'd go easier on the Love Me assignments for her.

Michiko, now eighteen, blinked back at the younger girl before smiling as she thought about Ren. She was glad she was playing someone one year younger although the viewers might have been confused as to why Ren was with these young girls. She raised a hand and Lory looked at her, his grin taking over his face as he saw Chiori's agony over this.

"We can take questions after I introduce our director, many of you might know him from Ring Doh, he's a very talented director who I know more than one of you has worked with, next is our makeup and costume team led by Mrs Julienna Hizuri and Miss Ten Woods," he said as they smiled and bowed deeply together, Jelly doing it more formally than Julie who had only gotten used to this custom after she met Kuu, "Finally is this man here who needs to introduction," he smiled as Kuu looked away and Kyoko smiled glad that her kind father was here and not the man she had first collected that day in December. "This is Kuu Hizuri, he's going to be helping you girls out as well as the host for the show. It's a big imposition on him so make sure to treat him with respect."

"It's not that big..." he laughed before bowing lightly as all the girls got up and bowed to him, "Please take care of me..." his stomach growled, "And my appetite."

"Of course!" everyone said at once with Kyoko bowing the deepest to him, however Honoka was smiling towards one of her personal inspirations, Julie.

"Now, come up, greet, mingle," the president smiled dressed in the clothes of Elizabethan nobility. "This is going to be fun," he smiled before looking towards the Love Me group and winked. Jelly came behind Kyoko who was just about to go talk to Kuu before whisking her away.

"We'll need the longest time with you Kyoko-chan," she said, "Afterall Ren-san has seen you in disguise before, you'll see your friends later..."

"But Julienna-sama, father" she protested as Kuu gave her a weak smile and they left to start the makeover.

**Next: Makeovers of the Love Me members, Mitsui, and Honoka.**


	4. Chapter Three :: Makeovers

**So it's shorter than I wanted it to be, I could probably have written more but I just didn't feel motivated since it took me so long to get reviews on it so I didn't think many people were interested. Oh and hopefully everyone who reads knows who all the characters are.**

**Chapter Three :: Makeovers**

"So with a final cut here," Jelly smiled excitedly as Kyoko looked at herself, her hair was black with blonde highlights throughout it. Her hair was cut short and messily to her chin, her bangs were swept to the side and she blinked looking at herself, her hair made her look completely different, it made her look more like her old self but not even that, she couldn't describe it. "Do you like it?" Jelly asked afraid since Kyoko wasn't smiling "Do you hate it?"

"Oh," Kyoko shook her head quickly, "No, of course not..." she said quickly before feeling it, "It just doesn't make me look like me."

"That's the point," Jelly grinned at her, "If Ren-san found out too easily it was you then the whole thing would be ruined."

Kyoko blinked not understanding what Jelly was talking about, "Are you doing this by yourself?" she asked as Jelly looked down.

"Well no..." she explained, "Hizuri-san will join me after she's given you your clothes, remember your style is Visual Kei," she told her as Kyoko's eyes flashed with anger.

"Excuse me?" she asked as Jelly gestured towards the mirror

"Don't you feel that this is a step towards Visual Kei?" she asked before pouting, "Of course I had more extreme ideas but darling told me to hold back."

"No, no I think I can handle this..." Kyoko said before looking down "It just...perhaps Tsuruga-san will still be able to see through it."

"I don't know, you do look different from yourself, now although Setsuka is a similar style you should feel to be different than Setsuka Heel. Now, maybe I should have given you the princess style like one of the girls I'm disguising or an American Valley Girl like another of the girls. Now it's very important that you don't tell anyone who you are."

"Even Moko-san?" Kyoko thought aloud before turning to Jelly with eyes full of tears, "I can't not tell Moko-san"

"Moko?" Jelly asked before smiling, "If you feel your friend can keep a secret then I'd feel able to, after all you'll probably be in the house the longest."

"The house?" Kyoko blinked before thinking about her and Kanae living together and spending every day together, it made her happy to think about. "Are all the girls,"

"That's right, everyone has eight weeks off of their schedules and have decided to participate, you'll all be living together," Jelly smiled as Kyoko looked at her excitedly, at that point Julie entered the room.

"Woods-san?" she asked in a friendly manner before looking at Kyoko and smiled, "It's such a transformation," She laughed before looking at Kyoko, "So Aiko-chan?"

Kyoko blinked at that, "Ai-ko?" she asked confused.

"Didn't the president tell you?" Julie asked her, admiring the cut of the hair style that Jelly had given her, "Aiko is your new name, Aiko Sakamoto," she said before looking at her and saw her confusion still so pulled out a character folder, "This is the character that the president wants you to form, she has dreams of being a Visual Kei musician...can you sing?"

"Only a little..." Kyoko blushed looking down as Julie shook her head

"You'll have to stop blushing when you're around Tsuruga-san," Julie told her, "That isn't part of Aiko-chan's character."

Kyoko froze nervously as she nodded quickly, "I understand, but I'd love to do karaoke with a friend of mine," she smiled before Julie laughed.

"My son used to say that he couldn't sing as well, if you ever meet him you should convince him to sing...he's got an amazing voice," she told Kyoko who blinked, she had wondered at first whether the original Kuon was dead, but now she wasn't so sure.

"Hizuri?" she asked running her fingers through her bangs trying to act in character, "Where is your son now?"

"He's somewhere I can't even be," Julie replied before looking down, "I can't be with him right now."

Kyoko bit her bottom lip trying hard not to pry too much into Julie's life after all the whereabouts of her son seemed to be an off limits topic. "I'm sure you'll see him soon Julie-san," she told her as Julie nodded.

"Hopefully," she replied, "Anyway clothes, I bet you know what kind of clothes you're going to get."

"Visual Kei clothing..." Kyoko said slowly as Julie bit her bottom lip

"Yes...but make it different than you might think, we don't want Ren to see anything he's seen you in before, understand?"

"Yes...I wouldn't want him to choose to torture me," she smiled dully before dashing out and then ran into Honoka. "Ah! Honoka-san!" she said as the model smiled down at her.

"Don't worry about it," she grinned, "I was just called next, although I'm not sure of any way of Ren-san not seeing through me. You...are you the Kyoko from Box R?" she asked as Kyoko's eyes widened and she bowed deeply, "I only recognize you because of the name now," she laughed, "And I heard your name before, I was sure I matched it up. Although I'd have not recognized you if I hadn't have seen you in the room."

"Ah!" Kyoko panicked, "I'm so honored that you know who I am," she said as Honoka laughed lightly.

"Natsu's poses reminded me of those girls I used to look to when I was first becoming a model," Honoka told her as Kyoko's eyes widened.

"Really!" she asked her heart bursting, "I was only trying to imitate Honoka-san!"

Honoka blinked, "Oh I'm glad you're a fan..." she said before looking down embarrassed, "We haven't met before have we?"

"I..." Kyoko said as she looked at her, "Please do not tell anyone if you figure it out!" she panicked as Honoka laughed lightly and then left to enter the room.

"I promise I wont..." she said trying to think of when it was, she was sure she felt that...presence before.

Kyoko went into the clothing room as Julie came and joined her with a smile, she walked over to the fitting room interested in what she would be transformed into. With the way her hair looked she was sure that she wasn't going to enjoy it although she had enjoyed being Setsuka, she just had to make sure her personality was different from everyone she had already been.

Looking around she caught sight of a bag with the label 'Spare Clothes Aiko' and then looked up at the white and black striped button up shirt, long black coat, and black jeans. The jeans reminded her a lot of Setsuka's clothes but with more pockets and belts with a silver chain hanging off the pocket, she looked to the coat and found that it was a trench coat with more belts than the pants had, it looked warm though. There was a lace choker with some hanging down chains with jewels on, the boots were thin Gothic style boots. She froze looking at everything and then started to undress before seeing the underwear, they were so skimpy! She blushed this was just like Setsuka, was she now stuck in that kind of character now. If that was so wouldn't Ren see through her instantly.

"He'll know it's me," Kyoko panicked nervously. "He..."

"I'm sure he won't," Julie told her with a smile, "Listen to me Aiko-chan...from what my husband says Ren isn't that smart."

"What?" she asked before looking at Julie, "That's not true,"

"Do you want to come play with us? Me and Kuu?" she asked as Kyoko nodded quickly and Julie grinned clapping her hands together.

"All you need to do is win," she said with a playful smile as Kyoko blinked at her.

"But...I can't make Tsuruga-san fall in love with me!" she panicked as Julie looked at her,

"Do you know what the president would say if he was here?" Julie laughed as Kyoko panicked having no idea at what Julie was hinting at, "Aiko do you know what he'd say"

"Don't call that idiot by his last name," Aiko laughed as Julie nodded.

"Lory really did pick a special name for you," she said as Aiko panicked looking at her nervously

"Please do not say such a troublesome thing," she said before taking her clothes to the dressing room and got changed. Once she got out she noticed some color contacts and jewelry with her name on them. She put the blue contacts in her eyes and looked at herself, very different...she put the clip on lip piercing on and the rest of the studs and then exited as a woman waited for her to have her makeup done.

"Aiko-san," the girl said looking her in the eyes, "You look so wonderful,"

"Thanks, I guess," Aiko shrugged. _I'm sorry I have to act this way makeup goddess! _Kyoko screamed inside her head seeing what the woman was holding.

"Let's get your makeup done," the girl said as Aiko lifted an eyebrow and nodded.

**Two Hours Later**

Aiko was waiting with Chiroi, now using the name Mana, who was a very traditional girl. One of Jelly's friends had given Chiori really long extensions and made even her bangs longer, she looked so beautiful that way apart from the frown. Mana was wearing a red and black modern style kimono and she looked beautiful.

"So..." Aiko said, her character biography in her lap, "Your transformation wasn't so extreme,"

"Well it's not like this Ren saw much of Box R or that I'm that famous, I swear I could got in as myself and he wouldn't even recognize me," Chiori replied although Mana was a very sweet, very polite girl.

"I mean...come on, who's going to guess I'm me," she pointed to herself

"Don't you like him though?" Chiori asked

_Me and Tsuruga-san! _Kyoko asked herself, _No you're crazy Amamiya-chan, there's no way that I could feel love for Tsuruga-san!" _Kyoko laughed to herself before hearing a growl and looked away

She paused as she saw someone come out of the dressing rooms and noticed it was...wait wasn't... "Moko-san?" Kyoko asked looking at the girl with bubblegum pink hair.

"No way!" she yelled as two of the hair stylists followed her, "There's no way I can deal with being a character who has pink hair and a princess fetish. This is going to end my career."

"Moko-san!" Kyoko smiled, "You look just like a princess!" she said putting her hands together, "From a fairytale, a really beautiful princess."

"Hell I'm not taking this," Kanae said before the president appeared in front of them.

"Kokoro-san," he said as Kyoko held back a laugh at the name, "I am telling you that you should enjoy your makeover, it will help you excel in show business."

"So giving me pink hair will make me more popular?" Kanae asked in disbelief.

"You should enjoy your makeover," Lory said before gesturing to Mitsui Manaka who was just coming out with blonde hair that went down to her waist, she looked so excited about it. "Be more like her Kokoro,"

"Why couldn't you just give me a wig?" Kanae asked, "It's been about three hours that they've been doing this, you bleached out the color."

"Please escort Kokoro back, unless.." Lory began you intend to quit LME

Kanae scowled and looked away, "Of course not, as an actress I will take this as the worst role of my career," she left before going with them as Lory started laughing at the image of Kanae with bubblegum pink hair and eyebrows.

**- End Chapter -**

**Please review, I'll even update tomorrow if there are more than six reviews.**


	5. Chapter Four :: About To Leave

**So I had a lot more plans for this chapter and I was hoping that no chapter would ever be this short but I got a migrane whilst writing it and now feel incredibly sick. I promise though there will be a chapter that is much much longer than this either tonight or tomorrow but I can't write with a migrane**

**Thank you for the reviews and the support**

**Chapter Four :: About to Leave**

**One Hour Later**

Ren sat in a quiet, soundproof room with a very excited Yashiro and Kuu, he and Kuu kept exchanging eye contact and gentlemanly smiles whilst Yashiro acted like a Kuu fangirl. Yashiro kept looking between the two actors unsure why they weren't saying much, if he didn't know better he'd feel that he was acting as a third wheel to them.

"So," Kuu finally said again, "You are going to be living in a house starting with ten girls for nine weeks," he told him before seeing the frustrated Ren. _I really hope that his anger isn't directed at me, it was boss's idea._"I want you to act professionally."

"With ten girls?" Ren asked lifting an eyebrow before offering another smile, "And can I assume that your Japanese 'son' will be one of these girls?"

Yashiro looked at Ren interested in what he was saying but all he could remember were the media talking about Kyoko as a son, he took a look at Ren and then grinned mischievously noticing his look of concern that only lingered in the far corners of his eyes. "That's right," he said, "Kyoko-chan is one of these girls...you really wanted it to just be you and Kyoko-chan alone didn't you?" he asked as Ren frowned.

"I was only hoping that she wasn't..."_ How did the president even threaten her to take this? This is worse than a shotgun wedding! At least a shotgun wedding wouldn't be televised, _"I mean, this doesn't seem to be the kind of thing Mogami-san would have an interest in."

"It's good for an actress to take different roles," Kuu commented as Ren looked at him,

"Different roles...why wouldn't Mogami-san be playing herself?" he asked as Yashiro sighed.

"None of the girls are...at least that's what I got from the president's words," Yashiro told him, "Of course he was referring things to animals and overdramatizing it a bit, I could have taken a guess that he would give Kyoko pink hair"

"Pink hair?" Ren asked lifting an eyebrow, "What is he getting Mogami-san involved in?" he asked as Yashiro looked at Kuu.

"It's a role that might end up being her favorite," Kuu smiled, "During the time I spent with that girl I learned a little about her, I'm sure she is really up to the challenge of this role."

**Meanwhile**

Kyoko followed Kanae as her hair was finished into the changing room to see what clothes she'd get, it was a pink glittery tiara, white blouse with lace on the collar and sleeves and pink heart shaped buttons and a pink skirt. There were white heels underneath all in Kanae's size.

"I'm going to kill someone, "Kanae snapped hearing Jelly's voice in her head. _Now Kokoro, you must remember to do everything in a cute manner and talk in a cute way. The main trait of your character is she is adorable, do this and I'm sure your roles will vary. _"No way!" she screamed as Kyoko put her finger to her chin.

"Moko-san?" she asked as Kanae turned to her, "I wish we could switch characters...I wouldn't mind even my hair being turned pink if I got to have princess style."

"That's right it does suit you more," Kanae thought about it before kicking the wall in frustration, "Damn it! No one in Japan is going to let me live this down, I might as well quit."

"No!" Kyoko screamed, "Moko-san, if you quit won't you get thrown out of Love Me?"

"So," Kanae replied, "I don't know why I joined that stupid place, I mean..." she caught Kyoko's depressed face and looked at her, "Can you really ask me not to quit?"

"Please don't...our friendship should make this experience more enjoyable," Kyoko begged with her eyes, "Plus if Tsuruga-san finds out I'm me then he'll just want to play with me more, he may even want to torture me so much that I win."

Kanae looked at her before rolling her eyes, she didn't want Kyoko just to get sucked into Tsuruga-san's love without sign of a struggle, she had to keep supporting her. "He probably will keep you until the end.."

"Right!" Kyoko commented, "Because you know that Tsuruga-san likes to toy with me."

Kanae looked away and was about to deny that comment before hearing Julie's voice over the intercom. "Girls we're going to be going to the house now, your rooms are already filled with your possessions, it will be two people to a room," she said, "You will find out your roommate from the back page of your bio, no you may not swap."

Kyoko felt tears in her eyes and the fear of not being able to share a room with her friend and then caught the name on top of the paper. "Mitsui Manaka," she repeated before freezing. No way! No way that was going to be her roommate! Chestnut girl! "Who do you have Moko-san?" she asked tears streaming down her face.

"Don't worry we're all going to be in the same house," she looked at the book, "Ruriko Matsunai"

Kyoko took a deep breath in, "First off don't let her know you're in Love Me," she said as Kanae rolled her eyes, "Second she has a huge thing for Tsuruga-san which you have to encourage because then Tsuruga-san will choose her."

Kanae nodded slowly, "So you've acted alongside her..."

"Well not really," Kyoko smiled before seeing Jelly at the doorway

"Aiko, Kokoro I hope I don't have to remind you that when you leave this room that will be the last time that you may talk so freely or act as your own parts, don't want to leave all of darlings plans go to waste." With that both girls nodded. After Kanae got changed they got into the bus that was to take them to their house.

**Next Chapter :: Moving Into Rooms and A Ball where Ren meets Aiko!**

**I am not expecting many reviews as I let you down on this chapter, please support me on the next though**


	6. Chapter Five :: Moving In

**So I've decided to focus this whole thing around Kyoko and just use the other characters as background since that's what most of the reviewers were interested in, I'm also sorry that this chapter is not as long as I was planning and ends on a cliffhanger**

**Hope you enjoy**

**Chapter Five :: Moving In**

Pulling up into the grounds of the new house had taken quite some time, no one had really expected for the house to be outside of Tokyo, a place where all of them had lived and worked for some time, but here it was in a more rural setting than metropolitan Tokyo. The house was extremely large, more of an estate than a house, that looked a little like a castle. Kyoko stared out at it dully as she had adopted the character of Aiko well, however in her head her thoughts were screaming, over excited that she was going to be living in such a grand place even if it did mean several dates with Tsuruga-san.

Soon the bus that they were riding on had stopped and Aiko looked with some annoyance at the place. She looked around at everyone else in their disguises unable to tell who anyone really was apart from Chiori and Kanae, having spoken to them already. She looked to the side bored, "Such a stupid place as this," she whispered, "Why couldn't it be something better?"

The girl next to her, Mitsui Manaka, however Kyoko did not realize this at this time, was dressed up in Gothic Lolita fashion but with blonde hair with sparks of red in it. "It looks interesting though," she said looking at her nails, "Kinda gothic. You're Aiko Sakamoto right," she winked and then held out her hand with a roll of her eyes, "Ran Matsumoto."

Kyoko nodded in recognition, so they had chosen to put the Visual Kei aspiring singer with the girl who had a Gothic Lolita fetish. "Ah, right..." she said looking away before showing a smile, "We'll be living together, do you have an interest in...Ren?"

"Of course," Ran smiled to her before her eyes glazed over, "He is a superior actor, very kind hearted as well. He also never gets angry." _He's the complete opposite to that foreign actor Cain Heel which is great! I grew sick of him and started to hate him._

Aiko nodded weakly, not able to tell Mitsui that she had recently worked closely with Ren as well but Ren in a different form, "He's alright, not really my style but I'm hoping to make an impression."

"Let's support each other Aiko," Ran nodded before craving some of her favorite chestnuts that her manager always brought her. It was hard doing this without one's manager but it wasn't like she had any other commitments just stay in this house so Japan's favorite bachelor would fall in love with her.

"Oh my gosh!" Kyoko heard a voice and inside smiled at Kanae who now dressed as Kokoro was clapping her hands together, "A castle? A real castle? And that guy is my prince, I can't believe it." Kyoko held back a gigantic laugh before rolling her eyes.

"Some people are so stupid," Aiko began before realizing that they were all different types. She looked around the bus to find everything from a Southern Californian Valley Girl to a computer hacker from Osaka. They would probably be doing different things together and so had to combine these stereotypical roles,

"I don't know," Ran replied, "I hope there are bats," she had a spark in her eye before Aiko chuckled.

"A man I used to be interested in liked bats," she said thinking of Reino and shivered, well if she was sporting this Visual Kei image she had to know who Beagle was, despite their stupid name of the band. "I think he also slept in a coffin,"

"Really cool," Ran replied before Kyoko took a closer look at the clothes that Ran had on. She had on a skirt that was black and white striped with lace, a tight black corset, black lacy clothes and Alice shoes with white and black striped socks. On top of her head was a mini black hat with white bow. She carried with her a black umbrella with even more lace, Kyoko smiled at the umbrella. _That would be so much better in white._

"Alright!" Jelly smiled as she looked at all the girls, "Please exit the bus and find the man who will give you a key to your room. You must hide the one bag of personal items you have brought with you," she said as Kyoko nodded thinking about the bag which held Corn, Princess Rosa, and a couple of dolls alongside a blanket. The bag was baby blue, very different from the clothes that she was wearing so she knew she had to hide it.

"Since we're going to be sharing a room why don't we go together" Ran suggested to Aiko, changing her voice even, a precautionary step to interacting with a man she had "never worked with".

"Alright," Aiko nodded as Kyoko looked down, _I'm sorry Moko-san, I'll come see you once we've settled down in our rooms._

As they got out of the bus Kyoko's eyes caught onto the man with the keys, she had to keep herself from greeting him as her father and instead stood casually as if she didn't really care who he was. _I'm so sorry father! After this I'll greet you properly, especially when I come over to play at your house._

"Hello again girls," Kuu smiled at them and Kyoko felt that she had seen that type of smile before, of course, it was when he was cooking with her in the kitchen on his last day. "I'm sure that maintaining character will be easy for you all, but I have to tell you there are several soundproof rooms where you may change back to your proper selves if you need to. I will be coming around to greet you all individually within these first couple of days so please be expecting me. As an actor myself I am curious as to how you will all develop your roles. Please enjoy yourselves within this competition."

The girls nodded at that as Julie stood by her husband and started to say something as well, "Tonight there will be a ball or dance to start us off, although there will be other men there aside from Tsuruga Ren remember what the goal is. At the end of the night a girl will be leaving this house, make sure it is not you."

_Or..._Kyoko thought to herself, _If it is me then at least I can get back to work as normal. Still, I might miss out on speaking to father._

"I'm so excited!" a girl called Katsumi who was wearing a Tokyo U uniform smiled clapping her hands, "I've always wanted to work alongside Ren. It's my dream as an actress," she said in a cute manner. Aiko looked down the line at Chiori, or Mana, who had an angry aura around her but her face was calm, pleasant. Mana's back was straight and she seemed to be in a traditional standing pose whilst wearing her kimono.

"I'm excited too," Kokoro said, a hateful aura around her as well, "It's always been my dream to be like a princess in a fairy tale castle. Thank you for such the opportunity," she bowed in a sweet manner. _I hate this! Kill me! Kill me now or at least let me be the one to leave tonight so I don't have to put up with this nonsense!_

"You may take a look at your rooms now," Kuu said before showing them ten keys and the girls all went up to him.

**Twenty Minutes Later**

"So..." Aiko smiled pleasantly as they got to a more mysterious part of the castle looking house, "It should be right..." she smiled seeing the name tags on the door in styles that would suit a Gothic Lolita and Visual Kei girl written on and bound by tape which could easily come off. "Here,"

"I'm looking forward to living with you," Ran nodded, "Let's be friends alright Aiko."

"Alright," Aiko nodded as they entered the room together. The room was exactly in their styles, there were two single beds, but the sheets were black and red and the pillowcases matched the sheets. They were western style beds, something that the president had probably gone around selecting, or at least had someone else select.

She looked to see what appeared to be toys of animals where you could see the skeletons, and fake bats hanging up, everything had a darker, more terrifying feel to it, but still there seemed tot be a couple of pieces that would suit each girl individually. Aiko's eyes however drifted to the different pictures of singers around the room such as Beagle and Shou...she shivered looking at them before looking above the beds where there were two portraits of Ren dressed in more Gothic or Visual Kei looking clothes.

"Doesn't it look great?" Ran asked her with a smile before seeing the closet, "Oh the dresses must be in here,"

"Dresses?" Aiko asked blinking in confusion.

"For the ball, I mean we have to go if we don't want to be eliminated," she said as Aiko nodded, she'd go...it was worth making a few dates with Ren so as not to get kicked out of LME, he probably would never know it was her.

"Yeah," Aiko nodded again before seeing Ran open the closet to find the perfect dresses for both of them. "They really know these styles don't they?" she asked as Ran grinned.

"Think how long this took to plan," Ran said looking in wonder around the room, "Must have taken months."

Aiko nodded before hearing a knock on the door and then went to open it to find Kuu there. "Hey," she blinked at her father, was he here to tell them that they had been disqualified for some reason. Instead he smiled at them.

"Good afternoon," he said nodding to both Aiko and Ran, "Would it be alright for me to borrow Aiko for a moment?"

Ran nodded, "Yeah of course, have fun Aiko," she said her voice turning creepy for a second as Aiko nodded and Kuu took them to another room where there were just a few sofas but no windows, the walls were painted an off-white and the sofas were a brown color. There wasn't much else in the room but a table with two chairs.

"So..." Aiko began, "What are we doing in here?"

"In here," Kuu smiled, "this is a soundproof room, it is only right for you to be yourself when talking to me, now there are cameras in here to try to get more information when presented for TV which you have to know about. Since you are celebrities you don't want to have the media pick up on anything you didn't want them to know about."

"Alright," Kyoko said nervously, dropping the act of Aiko, "Father...welcome home," she said finally as he grinned.

"Happy to be back and working with young faces again," he told her, "So tell me a little about yourself."

Kyoko blinked, "But father...you know about me from when I cooked for you the last time you were in Japan."

"I know but the viewers don't know much about you," Kuu replied as Kyoko nodded understanding what he was saying to her, "Wouldn't you like to present a vague image."

"Alright," Kyoko smiled, "My name is Kyoko. I am an actress for LME...who is in the LoveMe section. My previous work has included a Kyurara commercial, work in a music video, Dark Moon's Mio and Box R's Natsu. I enjoy cooking and acting. I am seventeen years old, however my character Aiko is eighteen. I hope that everyone will support me and take care of me and that I get along with the other girls in the house."

"That's good, just what I wanted to hear, "Kuu nodded, "So how are you? Are you looking forward to the dates with Ren?"

"No..." Kyoko began, "But I am looking forward to playing a role opposite to Tsuruga-san. I don't think that Aiko will get very far in the competition."

"Well you don't want to sell yourself short," Kuu advised, "It sounds like you only half want to be here."

"It is an acting job for me, I do respect Tsuruga-san but I would never want to make him date me, a kouhai at his agency. Father, are there any rooms in this house where there are no cameras."

"Yes there are," Kuu said before telling her the three rooms that were soundproof with no cameras, "And of course the bathrooms don't have cameras inside of them."

"Good," Kyoko sighed before continuing her conversation with Kuu, "I really look forward to coming over to your Hollywood home soon," she told him.

"You're a good actress, it might only take a couple more years or even a year before you're ready," Kuu told her as Kyoko shook her head.

"Please do not think that I'm that good," she protested as Kuu looked at her. They spent the next half hour talking about different things until it was time for Kyoko to leave.

**One Hour Later**

Aiko looked around at the ballroom, it seemed to be done up very glamorously. Looking around she caught sight of Rachel looking in desire at a male model who had appeared with Ren several times, Nick. Nick however was trying not to pay attention to her.

Aiko smiled before catching sight of Katsumi still in her uniform and Mana still in a kimono. She paused before nodding her head, perhaps it was better not to change but the kimono was at least different from everything else.

Soon Aiko could hear the sound of trumpets and looked around to see an embarrassed Ren in a formal outfit that reminded Kyoko of what a prince might wear, next to Yashiro in a tuxedo. However as soon as their eyes met she felt something from him and so stood still, did he...recognize her already?

**End Chapter Five**

**Hello, thank you for supporting me and please take time to review if you want me to know your reactions. I might update this tonight but probably tomorrow or the day after.**

**Also please do me a favor and if I get off topic tell me, my favorite to write fic Her Wounds, His Child, is getting that way and I want this story to have a different feel to it. **

**Thank you for reading**

**~Myst**


	7. Chapter Six :: The Ball

**AN: So I've decided to be fair to five fics that I'm writing and update them all at the same time, which means there will be equal chapters on all of them. However, class starts next Tuesday so I may not have so much time to write.**

**Chapter Six :: The Ball**

Kyoko gulped as her eyes met Ren's, even though she was in disguise she could feel him trying to see through her. However, he simply returned back with his gentleman's smile and went to look at the next girl, Kanae. Yashiro was looking at all the girls excitedly trying to decide for himself which one was Kyoko so he could persuade Ren to make contact with her first. He was slightly disgruntled that Lory had taken his role of matchmaker away from him, but in a situation like this Ren would have to come out with someone and hopefully that someone was Kyoko.

"Alright," she heard Kuu say and turned to look at him, "This ball will last about four hours, Ren will have about twenty minutes to talk to each girl. Make sure to leave a lasting impression," he said, "As you don't want to be told to leave first."

Kyoko took a deep breath as she tried to maintain Aiko's character and nodded, tilting her head to the side and looking at Ren, but this wasn't Ren in her mind, this was Target A someone she had to make an impression on whether good or bad she wasn't sure which or if it even mattered. Once Kuu was finished talking, Ren continued to use his gentleman's smile as some of the girls felt their heart beat quicken.

"I look forward to getting to know each of you," he said as Kyoko screamed inside his head. _He's lying! He's still in love with that high schooler of his otherwise he wouldn't be smiling like that!_ "In a few months I will be leaving Japan and going to work in America, I hope to take two of you with me, especially that special someone." Kyoko's eyes narrowed listening to this, _Forced! So forced! _

Ren caught sight of Kyoko's narrowed eyes and so looked at her with an even brighter gentleman's smile making her feel unsafe because of how false it was. He really didn't want to be here did he? She smiled back at him and then looked down, _Become Aiko! _She told herself quickly, _Become Aiko!_

As the ball started Aiko sighed and went over to check out the refreshments to see whether there was something to her tastes or not, she kept looking behind her though to see if Ren was following, he was looking at her with some sort of intention but Yashiro was guiding him over to Kokoro. She giggled wondering what kind of response they'd have.

At that point a young male model walked over to her, "Hello," he smiled kindly, "Since Ren-san is talking to someone else would you care to dance with me?"

"Dance..." Kyoko repeated not sure what to say, although she always loved when people would dance together in princess stories such as the ball at the end of Disney's Sleeping Beauty and the dance in Beauty and the Beast, she often found it difficult to imagine herself in a situation like that. She frowned, having seen it shouldn't she be able to copy it, she had even seen real life dramas where they had dances but no one had ever asked her that question before.

"Yes," the model smiled, his medium length black hair and slightly pale skin catching her attention, "You're just the kind of girl I like."

"The kind of," Aiko asked quickly remembering to keep character, "Well," she shrugged, "I guess I could, never danced before, not one of my interests."

"What are your interests then?" the model asked as Aiko thought about this,

"Singing, following different bands, shopping..." she looked away, "I guess those kinds of things are alright."

"So are you a Shou Fuwa fan?" the model inquired as Aiko nodded with a grin. "Anyway let's teach you how to dance," he said gently before leading her onto the dance floor.

**Meanwhile**

Ren kept shooting looks at Aiko, _No...she'd never be a Visual Kei girl she hates those things especially after Fuwa unless of course she was forced to do so. _He looked at Kokoro who was smiling but it seemed to be a forced smile, it seemed that she really didn't want to be here? Couldn't this be Kyoko with hair dye and hair extensions? After all the princess theme did seem to suit her.

"Good evening," he smiled at Kokoro as Kanae rolled her eyes in her mind but her face held a composed look, "How are you?"

"I'm so excited," she laughed clapping her hands together with a very cute voice, "I mean a ball, my first ball, I feel like I'm in a fairy tale." _I could kill this character for saying this, _she thought to herself, _but at least I'm in disguise, now to get to the people in charge and make sure my real name never gets out. _

"Really?" he laughed, _This could be Kyoko but I doubt the president would be that kind, _"I suppose it _is_ a little like a fairy tale, I apologize that I don't make the best prince."

"No please don't say such untrue things," Kokoro replied putting a hand to her forehead as if she were a damsel in distress, "It wounds my heart for you to say such a thing, truly you are the greatest prince that a girl may ask for."

"Such untrue things?" Ren asked before laughing, "I admit that I may not be a fairy tale prince, but I hope that we will get to know each other well," _This girl is quite annoying, but she does remind me of Kyoko, it's cute...a more over the top Kyoko but a Kyoko none the less. _"So, may I ask you your reasons for deciding to join this show?"

"I...I wanted to meet a prince!" she declared before hearing a laugh and her eyes darted to Aiko who was dancing quite near them, "And to hear that we could spend even more time together, it makes my heart melt." _Do not say that! Do not say that you want me to stay here!_

"I'm glad," he replied with his fake smile, "Are you an actress?"

"An actress!" she replied putting her hands to her cheeks as she had seen Kyoko do in the past, "Oh my gosh," she forced herself to blush, "You're making me feel so awkward."

"My apologies, I just heard that everyone here was a celebrity," he said before Kokoro giggled, he held out a hand, "Would you like to dance with me?"

"Oh it would be a dream come true," Kanae squeaked, "I've only done it a couple of times though, never with a real prince like you." _Kill me! Kill me now! Make an earthquake, a volcanic eruption, just something to get me out of this situation_

"Then let's dance," Ren said as he started to show Kanae how to waltz.

**Twenty Minutes Later**

Ren broke free from Kokoro as he heard someone tell him that the first amount of allotted time was over, making his way over to where Aiko was still dancing with her model he suddenly felt a hand on his wrist and looked up to see another girl there waiting for him.

"Come dance with me!" Katsumi sang merrily, "I really have wanted to dance with you ever since I saw you in your first drama."

"Ah, of course," Ren bowed before starting to dance with her, this girl was dressed in Tokyo U's spring uniform but she seemed more like a princess Lolita type of girl. "So, you go to Tokyo U."

"Ye-Yes," Katsumi replied before batting her eyes towards Ren, "I mean...yep! Katsumi goes to Tokyo U."

"Oh," Ren asked, "I forgot to ask, my name is Ren and yours is."

"Katsumi's name is Watanabe Katsumi," the girl said as Ren blinked, _what the hell, this girl is talking about herself in third person? Is this part of the strange character that the president has given her? I'm pretty sure this isn't Kyoko._

"So interesting," Ren replied, "Katsumi, which meaning is it?"

Katsumi shrugged before looking up at Ren, "I don't know exactly..." she told him. _Or at least I can't remember, _"I like my name because it reminds me of American cats...purrr," she told him as Ren's eyes widened and he started to look at Aiko again, he had to get over there soon. Of course, he did know now who he might eliminate from the competition unless they proved themselves to him to be a capable actress.

"That's..." he offered a forced laugh, "great. Do you have a cat at home?"

"Katsumi is allergic to cats," Katsumi told him as Ren tried hard to not show disappointment on his face.

_Endure! _He thought to himself, _I just have to endure this!_

**Twenty Minutes Later**

After Ren had finished dancing with the seventeen year old Katsumi he managed to get to Aiko, "Would you like to join me for refreshments?" he asked as Aiko nodded. Ren smiled, he had a pretty good guess this was Kyoko, although her eyes, hair and clothes were different there was something about all of it that he had seen before. He had seen her with black, short hair of a different style and without the highlights when she was Mio. He had seen her in similar clothes as Setsuka, and he was the very last person who should make a comment about the eyes being different.

"So," he began, "I saw you narrow your eyes at me," he laughed raising an eyebrow, "Trying to study my behavior?"

"So what if I was," Aiko grinned back as he chuckled, _I'm sorry for answering you back Tsuruga-san, _she screamed in her mind.

"So you were dancing with Kei," he nodded, "I know him from my modeling work, you seemed to be enjoying yourself," he smiled at her before holding out his hand, "Tsuruga Ren."

"I know, we all know, I'm Sakamoto Aiko" Aiko rolled her eyes, _Tsuruga-san please forgive this foolish me, I would never usually be this disrespectful._

"So," he looked at her outfit, "You're Visual Kei style right? Could you recommend any good singers?"

"You've..." Aiko said slowly, since she kept away from that genre she usually couldn't name many artists, actually she couldn't name many VK artists at any time, "Heard of Fuwa Shou haven't you?" she asked

"Yes," he nodded with a smile, _Unfortunately, not my favorite person, _"What song do you like?"

"Ah, Prisoner's quite good," Aiko shrugged, "Yeah that's one of my favorites."

"Who else do you like?" Ren asked as Aiko looked at him.

"Beagle," she said, "The band Beagle..." she said at once as Ren's smile turned more natural.

"Vie Ghoul is alright..." he shrugged, _Complete lie but at least I've found out who she is...thankfully I've done some research on that band after he stalked her. _"That's what you said wasn't it?"

"Yeah..." she nodded, "Vie Ghoul," she repeated before taking his hand, "Anyway you have to eat something," she told him

"I will if you feed me," he replied before opening his mouth as Kyoko screamed was playing with her, toying with her, definitely toying with her.

**Three Hours Later**

"Alright," Kuu spoke up as the girls gathered round at the end of the ball, there was a table full of flowers, eight red roses, one white rose and an empty vase. There was also a table covered by a cloth that all the girls were interested in, "Ren-san has now had the pleasure of meeting and talking to each of you. He will now give the flowers out, the white rose goes to the winner whereas everyone else apart from the eliminated contestant will get a red rose. Please stand to the left once you have received your vase and rose."

"Alright," Ren smiled at them before bowing, "Please allow me to present the white rose to the girl who I liked the most, she is also going to be winning 100,000 yen worth of makeup and perfume. Aiko-san."

Kyoko blinked, her heart nearly exploding over the prize, but for her to be called first wouldn't that mean that he had guessed who she was. After all she hadn't done anything special unless he of course loved Visual Kei girls. The girls clapped for Aiko as she walked over to receive the rose.

"Next I'd like to ask Rachel-san" he said with a grin towards the "American" girl.

After saying all of the names, Ren paused left with Katsumi and Yumi. "The last rose," he said, "Goes to Yumi-san, I am very sorry Katsumi-san but please leave," he told her as Katsumi's mouth dropped open in shock. Chiori grinned inside.

**AN: For those who are wondering what Characters I'm using then please read below it goes [Character Name (Disguise) [Arc or Chapters]]**

[Kyoko Mogami (Aiko) [Whole Series]]

[Kanae Kotonami (Kokoro) [Whole Series]]

[Chiori Amamiya (Mana) [Box R and forward]]

[Ruriko Matsunai (Yumi) [Chapters 8-13]]

[Itsumi Momose (Kairi) [Dark Moon and forward]]

[Michiko Kawagoe (Katsumi) [Chapter 151]]

[Yuka Sudo (Hikari) [Box R and forward]]

[[Airi Oohara (Akane) [Dark Moon and forward]]

[[Mitsui Manaka (Ran) [Tragic Marker]]

[[Honoka Ootomo (Rachel) [Chapter 124]]


	8. Chapter Seven :: After The Ball

**Author Note: **Hey all, I've decided to schedule what days I'm going to write the fics on with Saturday and Sunday being the one's with the highest number of reviews on the most recent chapter. The schedule is posted on the bottom of my profile.

**Chapter Seven :: After the Ball**

Kyoko looked at the makeup in a daze as she saw it for the first time in her room, it was so beautiful and right in the middle of it was Odette, her very own Odette. She frowned looking at the swan._ I won't hold it against you that you were from some stupid stunt such as getting Tsuruga-san, to like me,_ she thought as the ball ended. There were all different shades and types of cosmetics for any girl but the pieces she liked most were a blue circular case with a mirror inside that reminded her of Corn and Odette.

She looked at the makeup as she touched it, tears filling up in her eyes before hearing Ran admiring the rose, "It is quiet pretty," the blonde commented, "I think you're lucky Aiko for getting the white rose," she smiled, "Don't worry about it though I won't hold it against you."

"I hope not," Aiko commented, "Afterall you're bound to get a white rose soon, you _were_ called fourth after all."

"Not as good as being called first," Ran winked before smiling, "I wonder what the next dating scenario will be, it'd be great if it was somewhere dark although they'll probably have us out in the morning."

"The morning is my least favorite part of the day," Aiko replied before looking around the room at the picture of Vie Ghoul. _I could have broken character when he asked me about Visual Kei, Shou never listened to other artists because he was afraid they'd affect his style and I don't like to pay attention to them now...should have known some more from working at Kimagure Rock though._

"Ah Aiko-chan," Ran began looking at the younger girl, "When you said that you liked Beagle to Ren-san, who were you talking about?" she asked

"Beagle," Kyoko began before blinking, she looked at the photo of Reino, "His band,"

"You mean Vie Ghoul right?" Ran asked slowly stopping herself from laughing at the poor girl, "Their name is Vie Ghoul, I don't know the singer's name though I'm not really a fan but could it be possible that Ren-san also doesn't know the name."

"Oh," Kyoko paused, "Vie Ghoul? Are you sure it wasn't Beagle?" she asked tilting her head to the side as Ran looked at her seriously and shook her head, "Crap..." she muttered.

"Don't worry though," Ran smiled, "It seemed like Ren-san hadn't heard their name properly either, perhaps someone else told him about the group and he always thought it was that way. I don't think you made a fool of yourself."

_Does he know, _Kyoko paled and looked at the makeup, _Did he know that it was her! Was he teasing and toying with her already? _She shook her head trying to make herself believe in anything but the situation she was now in, "Yeah, Tsu-Ren seems to be the kind of guy who wouldn't hold back on correcting someone," she said with a nod. _No he can't possibly know that it's me. _

"Yeah," Ran nodded, "Well I'm going to take a shower before bed, good night Aiko."

"Night," Aiko smiled at her as Kyoko was trying to settle herself down, once Ran had left Kyoko smiled. "No...he doesn't know."

**Meanwhile**

"So!" Yashiro said excitedly as he followed Ren to his room after the ball, "The girl you picked Aiko...is that...is that Kyoko?" he asked as Ren looked down the hall.

"Was it the first door down or the second?" he asked his manager ignoring how excited he seemed to be about all this. He smiled properly as he thought about 'Aiko's' reaction to the makeup, at least he had given her a prize that she would have only dreamt about before.

"You're avoiding the question as usual Ren," Yashiro commented before they got to Ren's bedroom in the other wing to the house, his was in the west wing and the girls in the east wing of this elaborate building.

"Perhaps I'd like not to talk about it, the president was the one who..." he started to say as he opened the door and then as he looked inside the room paused, "President Takarada?" he asked noticing the president sitting in a yoga pose on the bed dressed up in what one might expect someone in the Middle East to wear.

"President?" Yashiro asked before bowing respectfully.

Ren walked into the room staring at Lory as the president resumed a normal seated position, "What are you doing here?"

"Isn't it alright if I check in with you about what is going on in this house?" Lory asked, "At least I didn't dress up like a statue this time."

_Dress up as a statue? _Yashiro asked himself but didn't vocalize the question, he just looked at Ren hoping that at least one of them understood what the president was talking about.

"I wouldn't think you'd feel the need to," Ren replied in a straight forward manner, "After all how many cameras are mounted to these walls? Over a hundred isn't it?"

"Actually two hundred and thirty," the president nodded as Ren's eyes widened, that was far more cameras then there was a need for, "And it's always better to see things live in person."

Ren sighed before smiling, "I gave her the makeup, isn't that enough? Now that I know who Mogami-san is can we stop this game?"

"Ah, it's a good thing I told them to turn off the cameras in this room for tonight," Lory replied as Ren's eyes widened as he stared at the cameras mounted to every corner of the ceiling, "The show will be no fun if you choose the same girl every week, I was hoping you wouldn't find out until the sixth date, that would have been more exciting, so I'm here to ask you to play with Mogami a little."

"Play with her?" Ren asked confused

"Make it so that she's in the bottom for at least a week," Lory replied, "Put her in the middle, let her win a couple, just mix it up."

"And if I don't do this your show will become stale?" Ren asked as Lory looked at him.

"Remember the agreement," he said boldly as Ren sighed.

"Alright, I'll play it your way I'll mess with her head a little," he looked away. _Why am I actually starting to feel sorry for Mogami-san now. _"Do you have any idea what the next date is?"

"I have some arrangements to make but it involves seeing the girls in swimsuits," Lory replied as Yashiro looked to Ren

"Think about it...finally getting to see Kyoko wearing a bikini," he laughed as Ren blinked

"Wouldn't that mess up the wigs?" he asked thinking about Kokoro especially, "I mean the girls will be noticeable."

"No they won't, permanent dye doesn't lose its effect from just going swimming one time," the president chuckled as Ren's eyes widened.

"So that girl's hair was dyed pink just for this, I feel sorry for her," he replied trying to think about just what kind of crazy fangirl would do that for him and not knowing she was actually doing it for herself.

"So there's girls in swimwear," Ren asked, "What else."

"Weekly challenges," Lory nodded, he looked towards Yashiro, "Any further ideas?"

**END CHAPTER SEVEN**

**AN: **So does anyone have any great ideas for what they'd like to see on the dates or challenges, please let me know if you do.


	9. Chapter Eight :: Cooking Challenge

**AN: Honestly I haven't been having as much fun with this fic as I have with two others I'm working on, but I hope that changes since I had fun writing this challenge, thank you all for the ideas from last chapter. Today I made homemade sushi so wanted to write about cooking, this was a challenge that I had already had in mind but Annon also suggested it so here it is.**

**Chapter Eight :: Cooking Challenge**

After Kyoko had sleepily woken up, showered, and changed she came back to her bedroom and noticed the two envelopes that were pinned to the door, one was for her and the other was for Ran. Picking them up she walked into the room and handed the second envelope to the blonde gothic lolita. "So," Aiko yawned, "What is this?"

"It says challenge competition," Ran commented as she looked at the front of the envelope which was written in sparkly gel pens. She opened her envelope and then pulled out the card inside it, "Cooking Competition, Ran your theme is chocolate." Ran nodded trying to think of all the things she could cook with chocolate, the first thing that came to mind were chocolate cakes but those would be a bit heavy and could be a risk to cook. "Aiko what did you get,"

Aiko smiled before opening her envelope in wonder, "Let's see, let's see," she spoke aloud before reading what was written for her, "Aiko your theme is soup," she pulled a blank face as she looked at the card, she couldn't think of many things that would have more possibilities than soup but she was really worried about having the right thing. How difficult was soup going to be to make but then did Aiko even know how to make soup herself? "Ran," she said flipping her hair back as she combed it again, "Do you think all the girls can cook."

"I don't think so," Ran thought about it, "I don't think that Ruriko girl knows much about cooking but if there is something as easy as chocolate involved then..."

Kyoko nodded before hearing a voice over the intercom in the house and froze, that was Kuu's voice, she grinned, would all the girls get to have a challenge feeding Kuu? _Father, I will make the best Kyoto style soups that you have ever had, I promise you that. _

Ran smiled happily hoping that it would be feeding Ren, she had sent Ren some chocolates for Valentines Day but he had never told her how he had liked them or if he had even tried them. He probably hadn't and that saddened her but once she won this competition she could feed him chocolate every day.

**Thirty Minutes Later**

As all the girls were gathered downstairs Kyoko, who was wearing a torn pair of black jeans and a long t-shirt with a skull and crossbones on the top right corner, looked to Kanae who was wearing a pink and black dress this time. With a laugh inside Kyoko smiled at the girl who looked away annoyed at what she was doing here.

"Hey Aiko," Rachel asked as she looked at the list, Rachel had come in second when the people had been called and it seemed that her American-Japanese background had interested Ren. "What did you get?"

"Soup," Aiko shrugged, "Not sure what I can do with it though," she lied since ever since she had read the challenge card her mind had been working overboard with how many things she could think of.

"Ah," Rachel nodded, "That sounds like a lot of fun...like totally," she added quickly with a flip of her long, dyed hair. She wore a yellow tank top and blue shorts which showed her long legs. "I mean...I got apple."

"Apple?" Aiko blinked as Kyoko thought about caramel apples.

"Well good luck to both of us," Rachel smiled at her as Aiko paused not sure why Rachel was being so nice to her, shouldn't she see her as a competitor. Looking to her other side Kyoko caught sight of Hikari who was very nervous about what to do, Hikari was dressed as a Japanese style tomboy with a passion towards athletics. Her hair had been cut short and was a messy muddy brown.

"Cooking," she whined, "I don't really know how to cook and...and spaghetti, what kind of thing can I make with spaghetti!"

"There's a lot you can make," Aiko said before pausing as she saw some of the girls stare at her and roll their eyes as if saying that they were sure she was going to win again, also she couldn't help but feel that Yumi was glaring at her.

The next person to speak, Akane, was a girl with wavy black hair and bangs who was dressed as one might expect a maid at a maid cafe to be dressed, "I think it's fun, I got hamburger," she announced as Hikari stared at her.

"Don't you know how to make that in your maid cafe?" she blurted out as Akane looked at her and then shook her head.

"Not really, I'm not the chef," she smiled in a kind, peaceful manner. "I don't mean to offend however I think that cooking for Ren will be really fun."

"I think eating the leftovers will be fun," Kairi, the computer hacker/nerd, commented with a look towards her friend. Itsumi and Airi had become close friends because of Dark Moon, that they were doing this together was exciting.

"Yeah," Ran nodded, "Agreed. Anyone get chestnuts?" the other girls stared at Ran in silence before they heard the door open and Kuu entered with Ren and Yashiro.

"Hello girls," Kuu grinned as Ren and Yashiro bowed and the girls instantly all bowed lower, "Today as you probably know there will be a cooking contest, you will be feeding your bachelor Ren-san," he gestured to Ren as he forced a smile.

Kyoko looked at Ren feeling a little sad inside, whereas the girls were worried about their cooking skills or their ingredients Ren was worried about having to actually sample so much food to be able to make a conversation about winner and loser for the challenges. Wait, these weren't elimination challenges were they?

Ren looked at them using his gentleman's smile, "I look forward to eating all your cooking," he told them.

_He's lying! _Kyoko screamed, _He's just lying!_

"Alright," Kuu began, "What I want you to do is create a small dish for Ren-san using the ingredient we've given you and the ingredients in the kitchen. You will find the main ingredient will have your name on it, do not take those belonging to the other girls. So any questions."

Aiko blinked before noticing Akane had her hand up cutely, "May we feed Ren ourselves?" she asked as Yashiro had to cover a laugh, the younger actor's eyes widening, feed him? What were they thinking?

"That sounds fun!" Kuu laughed before looking at the timer, "You will have forty minutes to cook, make the most out of it." he told them as they all rushed towards the kitchen once he had said go.

The kitchen was a huge place that looked like a professional kitchen or one one might see on a competition, however there were still only limited stove tops and ovens. Nodding Kyoko knew that she just wanted to make a very basic miso soup without any aggressive ingredients, grabbing the ingredients she needed and the soup bowl she tried to dodge the other girls before starting to make up the soup base.

Looking around at the other contestants she smiled, although she had won last night she was confident that her cooking was the best, cooking was something that she was most proud of so why couldn't hers be as good as others. She grinned as she saw Kokoro but her ingredients down on the counter next to her.

"Miso Soup?" Kokoro asked looking at the ingredients, "Expected more from you," she commented out of character before sighing, "But that's okay!" she grinned, "I mean all food should taste like they would in a fairy tale! I want to wear my tiara forever!" she caught the look in Kyoko's eyes and smiled, "Laugh if you want, you should see my room though. There is actually a picture of Tsuruga dressed as a prince."

"What are you making?" Aiko asked casually not even apologizing for hiding her laughter.

Kokoro took a look down at her food, "Chicken Omu!" she grinned, "I'll only serve a sample of it and I have to get the sauce just right, I want to be able to write Love Kokoro on top."

Aiko laughed at the name, "Same kanji as heart?" she asked as Kokoro looked at her,

"Right, love child," she told her as Kyoko flinched from hearing that word and now it was attached to her. They both started to concentrate on the meal

**Forty Minutes Later**

"Ren-san," Ran said cutely as she approached him with her chocolate dipped fruit and whipped cream, she also had a slice of chocolate chip cake. "May I sit on your lap whilst I feed you strawberries?" she asked as he looked at her.

"Are those also grapes you have on there?" he asked before she nodded, he forced a smile out. "I could handle that," Ran sat calmly in Ren's lap as she started to feed him the fruit and he looked at her, "This isn't whipped cream is it?" he asked sexily sticking his finger in it, he licked his finger seductively as Ran blushed.

"I added a few extra ingredients," she grinned as he smiled

"I guessed so," he told her as she continued to feed him. Out of the corner of his eye he caught Kyoko with her soup who was going next and looked away embarrassed.

**Twenty Minutes Later**

"So," Kuu smiled as he exited from the kitchen as the girls turned around confused to what he was doing in there. "I've eaten all the leftovers," he announced, "And all your dishes were delicious, but it's up to Ren to pick the winner and two losers" he smiled looking towards his secret son. "The winner gets a five star meal served with Ren tonight and the losers have to wash the dishes in the kitchen." All the girls moaned at that

"I..." Ren looked at the girls, "I want to say that I enjoyed most of the dishes but the loser would have to be Yumi-san, with the raw spaghetti you cooked I didn't feel you were trying," he said before looking at the girls, "And Aiko-san, I don't think you really expressed your character with that soup," he said before seeing her smile fade and inside mentally kicked himself for going along with the president, "It was excellent and delicious but I never saw a point of view of who you are."

"Understandable," Aiko nodded. _He said it was delicious! _she screamed, _but he's right...Aiko probably wouldn't know how to cook soup that well._

"The winner for this challenge is Rachel-san, I truly enjoyed your chicken and apple crepe with walnuts and will hope that you will join me tonight," he told her as Rachel nodded.

"I will Ren-san," she smiled as Ren kicked himself again for upsetting Kyoko.

"This weekend will be our trip down to a private beach," Kuu told them as the girls cheered, "And swimming."

Aiko paled at this as Ren looked at her, _I don't know how to swim_ she panicked since swimming was one of those things small kids learned and her mother hadn't cared, more than that how was she going to be Shoutaro's wife if she learned to swim. Aiko caught Ren staring at her with tilted head and she smiled at him as he smiled back.

**END CHAPTER EIGHT**

**AN: I was asked to put the list of the characters at the bottom of every chapter challenge so here they are again:**

[Kyoko Mogami (Aiko) [Whole Series]]

[Kanae Kotonami (Kokoro) [Whole Series]]

[Chiori Amamiya (Mana) [Box R and forward]]

[Ruriko Matsunai (Yumi) [Chapters 8-13]]

[Itsumi Momose (Kairi) [Dark Moon and forward]]

[Michiko Kawagoe (Katsumi) [Chapter 151]]

[Yuka Sudo (Hikari) [Box R and forward]]

[[Airi Oohara (Akane) [Dark Moon and forward]]

[[Mitsui Manaka (Ran) [Tragic Marker]]

[[Honoka Ootomo (Rachel) [Chapter 124]]


	10. Chapter Nine :: The Dinner

**AN: **Sorry I didn't update yesterday and that this chapter is incredibly short but I've been having a really really hard time writing this fic but until there are no reviewers or this story is ended I will not stop writing it

**(Short) Chapter Nine :: The Dinner**

**That Night**

Rachel looked at Ren as they entered the restaurant. It was a high class Italian restaurant that was located an hour away from the house, "My apologies for the drive," he said with a smile to his friend, he had already figured out who two of the girls were, it wasn't that they weren't staying in character but that he knew they had been put in the show before he met their disguises. He thought to that moment just under one week ago.

_Finally doing the shoot for Armandy that had been set up for them, Ren looked at his partner, Honoka, with a nod. Honoka was known as the superstar in the modeling world and Ren often had to push himself to match up with her. "Are you doing more shoots Honoka-san?" he asked politely._

"_Not for a while," she replied her eyes leading over to the other model Nick, "I'll be seeing you actually," she smiled cheekily before her eyes lit up, "Forget I said anything."_

"_When...I..." he said before looking at her surprise, "Honoka-san, I'm sorry but I'm not interested in you like..."_

"_I'm interested in acting and especially meeting Hizuri Juliena," she told him as they finished filming, only moving their lips slightly when speaking._

"_Alright," he nodded, "Prove that you can act and you might just make it. I apologize for getting you involved in this," he told her._

"_Don't worry," Honoka said as she leaned back sexily, "I just want the experience of acting." Her eyes met with Nick's and she giggled charmingly as he laughed back._

"_I think he really likes you Honoka-san," he said, talking so much in the middle of a shoot was so different for him, so unprofessional but he was following Honoka's lead now, "What if I put him in the house too?"_

"_Stop talking you two!" the art director called out not hearing what they were saying, "Quiet on the shoot."_

"So," Rachel laughed as she stood with her long blonde hair and dark blue dress, "Have you figured the girls out yet?"

"I would think it'd make uninteresting if I knew," Ren smiled as he looked at the menu, his eyes meeting Rachel's. He sighed as he saw the cameras, "Thought we might be able to have a private conversation, thankfully Yashiro-san isn't here."

Rachel giggled, "Yes, the manager has to be everywhere for a famous actor I see," she said as Ren looked at her, resting his head on his hand.

"So?" he asked with a cheeky grin, "You're not an actress?"

"Model," she said before adding, "United States Latest First Place Model is my dream goal, I want to be on that show like so so much."

"I'm sure you'll make it," Ren laughed before thinking inside. _That's still on TV, when I was growing up my mother used to watch that a lot, criticize the models who didn't do well. _"So why are you interested in this show anyway?"

"Because you're just the hottest celebrity right now I guess," she laughed happily "You're the top actor for a reason, it's not only for your determination but your sense of responsibility to a role, you're like an...an idol."

"An idol?" he asked before ordering wine for both of them and then "Listen I'm not looking to make too much out of..."

"And you're so modest and humble too," Rachel beamed at him trying to use her own version of a lady's smile. "Even if I don't win promise we can still hang out."

"I'm...moving to the United States," Ren said slowly as Rachel smacked a hand to her forehead

"Sorry...but you know I"m half Japanese too," she grinned before looking at the waiter, "I could stay with you." She winked at him playfully, "I'll try the spaghetti," she smiled

"I'll have the ravioli," Ren replied before looking at Rachel and grinned, he looked down thinking about it. Once the waiter had gone she looked at Ren weakly and put her hand over his.

"What are you thinking about?" she asked

"We're going to the beach in a few days," Ren commented, "And there's going to be a swimming contest."

"And you're worried because...you know someone who doesn't know how to swim?"

Ren bit his bottom lip before nodding, "I'm not saying who..." he told her before looking down as Rachel made a cute pout.

"The girl you really love?" she asked in a jealous sounding manner.

"Too early to know," Ren replied, "But I was going to get Nick to teach her."

"Why don't you do it?" Rachel asked, "I mean you're the star of these shows not Rick..." she pouted as Ren's eyes snapped open, was she getting his name wrong on purpose? No, Honoka didn't know about Rick, only the president, his parents and Tina knew.

"Perhaps I will," he smiled lightly, "She might think I was teasing her though," he commented

"Ask her about it," Rachel advised, "I think it would be a very honorable thing to do." Ren nodded as Rachel kissed him on the lips and whispered sexily, "Just like a knight."

**End Chapter Nine**

**AN: **Next Ren and Aiko swimming lessons and perhaps a move towards a kiss.


	11. Chapter Ten :: Swimming Lesson

**AN: **I very much apologize for making everyone wait so long for this chapter. This is not my favorite fic to write right now, although I really hope that changes. I started classes on Tuesday and sprained my ankle yesterday I also am suffering from writers block so don't know when the next time I'll write this will be. Also thank you everyone who suggested bikinis for me and I've also delayed the kiss until chapter twelve sorry to disappoint

Please support me and wait for me

~Myst

**Chapter Ten :: Swimming Lesson**

Kyoko looked around at the swimming pool where Ren was waiting with one of his former coworkers who was also a trained life guard. She looked down at her bikini which was very sexy, it was black with studs along the top and a red stripe at the bottom, it was very small as well. Looking across at the other girl, Princess Kokoro, she smiled at the pink and white bikini with crystals. Ren was in black swim trunks showing his perfect body.

"So this is the girl you invited?" Ren asked taking a step forward with a smile, "Aiko-san, you feel alright to start?"

"Yes..." Aiko nodded, she looked down very pale and afraid to look Ren in the eyes, he was helping her and yet he didn't know who she was did he? He wouldn't just want to torture her about this would he? "I hope you don't mind me bringing Kokoro."

"Kokoro-hime please," Kanae forced a laugh and a blush, "It's so amazing Ren-san! You look just like a prince!"

Ren chuckled at that, he had no idea who this girl was but from taking a closer look at her face he realized how close to Kotonami-san she looked but there was no way that Kotonami would allow her hair to be ruined by being dyed pink. "Thank you," he smiled, "I should tell you to invite the whole group but I have special permission from the president since you're the only girl who looked troubled by the beach Aiko-san."

"I..." she flipped her bangs back, "Thank you Ren," she smiled as he nodded

"Let's get this under wraps," he said before leading her into the pool as Kokoro looked at the amazing, empty pool and giggled.

"I'm going to swim some laps first alright?" she asked as Ren looked at her.

"You sure Kokoro-san?" he asked. _This might give me some time to be able to teach Mogami-san properly, although I've never really taught anyone how to swim. I'm a strong swimmer myself but is that enough to teach._

"Yes prince Ren" Kokoro giggled as Kanae dived into the pool, Ren smiled at her as Kyoko's thoughts ran back to the night before

_**The Night Before**_

_Ren took a deep breath as he knocked on Aiko and Ran's door, it was after his dinner with Rachel and he wanted to talk to Aiko about what Rachel had suggested. He already had had words with a model he had worked with before and asked him to be life guard at this pool he knew was nearby. _

_Ran exited the room first and smiled at him, "Ren-san?" she asked, "What are you doing here?"_

"_I was hoping that I could talk to Aiko-san," he replied respectfully, he looked at Ran as she nodded and summoned Aiko who was in a black nightgown which looked quite seductive. He loosened his collar seeing her like that as she blinked innocently up at him._

"_Hello," she told him, "Have I done something..."_

"_Let's go on a walk Aiko-san," he said smiling at her as Aiko shrugged, "You don't want to have a private talk with me?" he asked surprised._

"_No it's not that...it's just," Aiko laughed weakly not making eye contact with him, "I must have done something wrong, is it that you want me to leave the house?"_

"_Why would I want something like that Aiko?" he asked as Aiko stared at him and blinked not sure whether he was joking or not._

"_Because it's a competition..." she replied slowly as Ren shook his head._

"_I promise that I won't kick you out the house," Ren laughed, "Just come with me."_

_Aiko shrugged before nodding and then left with him as Kyoko asked inside her head 'Is Tsuruga-san toying with me right now'. They got away from the other girls' rooms and she saw the concern in his eyes._

"_Aiko-san?" he asked looking at her in the eyes with a very understanding expression but Kyoko wasn't sure what he was trying to understand, "Can you swim?"_

_Aiko stared at him her eyes widening before she shook her head, "My mother never taught me..." she told him honestly, "My mother didn't really spend any time with me."_

"_And your father?" Ren asked_

"_He didn't either," Aiko replied, "But it's alright...I just won't swim there are other things to do at the beach right?"_

"_Would you like to learn?" Ren said, "I'm a good teacher at most sports I've tried to teach and when you're with me I'll make sure that you're safe."_

"_Wouldn't that be an inconvenience?" Aiko asked acting more like Kyoko than Aiko as Ren looked at her and adopted a happy smile._

"_Not at all," he replied, "And if you know anyone else who would like to join us or know of anyone else who can't swim..."_

"_Alright," Aiko nodded_

"_So I'll meet you tomorrow morning at the pool, I'll get a driver to take you there," he told her as Aiko bowed deeply. _

"_Thank you Ren-san," she replied before going in the direction of her room when really she just wanted to talk to Kokoro about this and ask her to come with her._

**Present Time**

Ren looked at Kyoko before grabbing a kickboard from the side of the room. "Now I'm going to take it slow but don't think I'm belittling you," he told her, "I can tell you're a quick learner."

"Perhaps," Aiko shrugged as she took it from Ren seeing his kind, patient face, "You want me to use this."

"Just to do widths until you're alright with the water," Ren told her, "Then we'll work on three different strokes. The easiest strokes. We'll stay here all day until you get this if you'd like," he suggested understandingly. "There are many things that I can't do myself."

"Like what?" Aiko asked raising an eyebrow

"Well I can't play the violin" Ren said staring up at the very high up ceiling of the building they were in, "There's that and bull fighting, don't think I'd be able to do that."

_So nothing that you know you need to learn, _Kyoko thought bitterly but then started staring at him admiringly. Walking down the steps to the shallow end she got in with Ren and then felt his arms around her and his warm embrace as Kokoro started to tread water and look at them, the way that Ren was looking at her there was no way that a man looked at a woman he didn't love like that when he believed no one was watching, he knew it was her but she wouldn't be the one to tell her friend that fact.

"Let's start the lesson," Ren said with confidence as he looked at her, "I'll swim along beside you just kick, keep your face in the water and come up for breaths when you need them, I'll be right beside you, I promise."

"You really promise?" Aiko teased him as Ren nodded.

"Really," he told her with a confident smile.

**Eight Hours Later**

Aiko looked at Ren as they finally got out the pool, she had been like a mermaid he thought absorbing everything so quickly with so much confidence that now he had faith that she'd be alright. It was now five in the afternoon, Kokoro had left with the driver who had later returned and they had had something to eat. Ren looked at Aiko and noticed her exhaustion, "You feel better now?" he asked her

"Yes, thank you Ren" she said as he looked at her and smiled weakly, he hoped he had really helped her learn something important and they already had gone through not only three styles but four with breast stroke being the one Aiko was best at.

"Good, I look forward to seeing you at the beach," he told her before walking with her to the dressing rooms before going in the men's room with his former coworker as she went into the women's alone.

The model, Makoto, looked Ren in the eyes as he said that, "Why did you need me?" he asked, "You have everything sorted plus you love her don't you?"

"Maybe," Ren replied, "And to help the TV people be supportive of this trip, you're getting paid right and being on TV," he commented noticing the cameras around them. _I just hate how this had to be televised, I feel sorry for her learning something like this and the public knowing but she seemed fine with it._

As she changed into her outfit Kyoko smiled at how well she did, completely excited about the beach now.

**End Chapter Ten**

**AN: **I know it was very short but I actually enjoyed writing it this time

Thank you for your support and especially reviews

~Myst

**NEXT: **Something that makes Ren panic/worry about Aiko/Kyoko


	12. Chapter Eleven :: Fun at the Beach

**AN: **So admittedly I could have slowed down on this scene and stretched it out to be a couple more pages longer but I'm still fighting a block on this fic that makes it harder to write than others. Hopefully you enjoy this chapter and want to read more.

Please continue to support me

~Myst

**Chapter Eleven :: Fun at the Beach**

**Friday**

"So we're finally here," Aiko smiled as she sat in the bus with the other girls, Ran was sitting next to her and she could feel her roommates excitement about this. They were going to be staying in a house along the side of the beach and had been told that by the time they left on Monday morning that two of them were going to have to return to their own homes having lost the competition. Aiko however wasn't thinking about that, it was the reserved area of the beach she was most happy about, although everyone had been told there were other areas which weren't so reserved.

"Apparently there's a modeling shoot," Ran commented, "At least I've heard rumors about that, modeling in swimsuits."

The bus stopped at the side of a large house which looked more like a hotel near the beach front, about seven minutes walk. Aiko grinned at that, "Modeling?" she asked, she didn't know how to model apart from the way Ren had shown her and if she did that then he'd definitely know it was her, she'd have to find another way to participate in the challenge if there was such a thing.

"Yeah," Ran nodded, "The person who wins is already a celebrity but to meet some of the people Julie Hizuri will introduce them to they need to be photogenic as well as beautiful in real life, modeling shoots are the best way to learn about these things."

Aiko nodded and inside Kyoko was hoping that she'd be able to impress people in something she didn't have any experience in. She paused before hearing Kuu talk to the people on the bus, Ren and Yashiro were taking Ren's car down to the hotel instead of going on the bus with the girls. "Girls," he announced, "Today we will start out on the beach," his stomach groaned at that point and he nodded, "After having some lunch since it's already twelve fifteen. Please take your luggage to your assigned rooms with your roommate and meet, after eating, on the beach unless there are those who want to skip lunch and swim before hand."

"Let's swim," Rachel said looking at Kuu before exiting sexily as she took off her top to show a bikini top with the US flag on it. She was definitely trying to show her American more than Japanese side of the character or at least the costume designer was doing that for her.

"Hey Rachel!" Hikari smiled, "Your bikini is going to stand out don't you think?"

"Yes," Yumi nodded, "It's Japan not America."

"Only showing you what was given to me," Rachel laughed before entering the room with Hikari quickly joining her side.

Kokoro jumped off, "I am sooo happy to be here," she smiled doing a great job as if acting like that was correct, "I'll skip eating too and just swim, I'm going to feel just like a mermaid princess," she said twirling around in her baby pink and white dress wearing a tiara on her head. "Let's go Yumi-chan," she giggled as Yumi stared at her defeated by her "bubbly personality".

"Sure," Yumi nodded as she adopted a smile too.

Aiko looked towards the direction of the beach and smiled, this was going to be her first time swimming in the ocean and she felt so excited, she also felt safe knowing it was going to be Ren who would be staying by her side.

**Two Hours Later**

Ren grinned as he entered the beach and lay on a chair next to Yashiro just taking everything in. He had been sneaking looks at Aiko ever since he had arrived and was glad that right now she was standing with Mana, the more traditional girl and talking. Aiko's hair was wet showing she had been in the ocean at least a little before he had arrived but she just seemed to be building sandcastles right now which suited Kyoko's personality but he wasn't sure about Aiko's.

He knew that sunbathing wasn't the best thing to do with all of these girls watching him, especially since everything he did would be televised probably, however he wanted to take care of Aiko since he was concerned about the girl he loved. He knew he didn't have that much time with her and so had to make the most of this extreme situation that the president had placed him in.

He saw Mana's classic white with black polka dotted swimsuit as quite pleasing since she wasn't showing anything, not like the other girls who kept trying to lean down in front of him. As he stared at Aiko and her collecting shells he shook his head. _You're not staying in character Mogami-san, _he thought before hearing Yashiro cough.

Turning forwards he blinked as he saw a woman in front of him and blinked up at her and her clevage, "Rachel?" he asked in shock. "What are you?"

"Ren..." Rachel said in a delicate manner, "The girls and I were talking and well the four of us want to swim with you."

"Swim with me?" Ren asked before giving a gentleman's smile, "Which girls are they Rachel-san?"

"Rachel-chan please," Rachel replied, "Well me, Hikari, Akane, and Kairi," she told him as Ren nodded. These, apart from Rachel, were some of the girls who had been scoring in the middle but who all seemed approachable. He looked at Aiko again before hearing Rachel say to him, "Don't favor one girl just yet or your president may force you to get rid of her."

Ren blinked up at her before chuckling and stood up, "Yashiro-san will you join us?" he asked politely as Yashiro looked through the book he was reading and then shook his head.

"I'll be fine, after all the girls only want you Ren," he teased as Ren sighed and then walked away with Rachel to the three other cheering girls.

Ren looked at the four girls who he was swimming with before taking one last look at Aiko and nodded, "Do you girls have experience swimming?" he asked as Hikari rolled her eyes.

"Yeah," she told him, "I've always done it, joined the swim club in elementary and middle school," she said honestly as Ren nodded. "Still swim now I'm in high school however work comes first."

"How about the rest of you?" Ren asked as he looked around at the other girls and they nodded and shrugged. "Then how about a race?" he asked as they talked excitedly.

"Of course," Kairi nodded sexily, _I'll beat him...I'll definitely beat him!_

**Meanwhile**

Aiko looked at Mana before seeing Ren start swimming with the four girls, he looked spectacular in the water, like a god. She blushed as she thought about this but then shook her head quickly. Shaking her head she looked away and then decided to explore the beach. "Mana-san," she smiled at her, "I'm going to go on a walk by myself," she told her, "I want to see what the ocean really looks like."

"You sure you're going to be alright?" Mana inquired wanting to know if Kyoko wanted her to come too.

"I'll be fine," Aiko nodded before going on a walk as Ren was distracted and turned away from her. After walking to the top of a cliff which was not in the reserved part of the beach Aiko looked down, feeling how exhausted she was and wondering how long it had been. It also felt that someone had been following her.

"Hey cutie!" an unknown man said as he came closer to Aiko and she looked at him and his two friends. "My names Aoi, this is Makoto, and Itachi. What's your name babe?" he asked looking at her admiring her beauty.

"It's Aiko," Aiko smiled at them as Aoi licked his lips.

"Aiko-chan," Aoi repeated, "You know you're really really cute in your bikini Aiko-chan, how about a swim with the three of us or...just me if you'd prefer."

"Come on Aoi," Itachi winked at him as the nineteen year old took Aiko in his arms and walked across to the cliff face, "We could have a picnic here."

"Sorry," Aiko smiled weakly, "I'm already competing for someone else's heart," she told them.

"Oh baby with that body he's not worth it unless he's with you already," Makoto said thrusting himself at her as Kyoko screamed inside her head.

"I really am already thinking about another man," she told them before Aoi looked at her and tried to kiss her but Aiko dodged.

"I..." Aiko tried but Itachi spoke up again

"Aww baby," he said before leading Aiko to the cliff edge with force, he had his arm around her until he heard a growled voice.

"Back off!" Ren snapped anger in his eyes, Yashiro by his side, "Leave her alone."

"Alright chill..." Aoi said seeing his anger, something he didn't want to be on the wrong side of, "We'll back off...Tsusurga."

Itachi looked at him taking a step forward and then stretching his arms off making Aiko take a step back and lose her balance. Before Ren could stop it she had fallen off of the cliff and into the water below. His eyes showing his pain he ran to the end of the cliff before not knowing whether to dive in himself, his body could crush hers.

As he didn't see her resurface after a few minutes he decided to jump in, he couldn't lose her. He couldn't lose the girl he loved.

**Chapter Eleven End**

Please continue to support me in the wait to chapter twelve, how and will Ren save Kyoko?


	13. Chapter Twelve :: Head First

**AN: **Seriously one of the shortest chapters I have ever written but I feel it still has a completeness to it. I'm sorry that I made you wait for so long but classes seemed to take over and work seemed to pile up. I WILL continue this fic tomorrow however as I hope to spend the rest of the day working on school work. Thank you

~Myst

**Chapter Twelve :: Head First**

Kyoko held her breath as she landed in the water, she felt the cold water hit her in the face and then took a deep breath and swam away from the rocks that were near her. She felt fortunate that she had managed to land safely and had learned how to swim. Moving as skilfully as she could she got to the coast and started to get up on the sand, it was at that time when she realized the loud splash behind her. Looking back she wondered if Ren had jumped in after her, that would make sense because he was always protecting her or trying to help her but to risk his life.

She stopped for a moment before seeing that he hadn't resurfaced, her heart stuck in her chest and something in her gut felt wrong. Seeing the fall Rachel had come over and looked straight at the panicked Aiko. She looked to the sea and blinked again, "Are you alright Aiko?" Rachel asked before seeing Aiko head back towards the water, "What is it?"

"Ren," Aiko choked, "He jumped in after me but he hasn't resurfaced."

At this she ran back in to where she had heard the splash and paled as she noticed blood on the rocks. Swimming down as deep as she could she saw Ren's body without movement and pulled at his arm, his head was bleeding and the blood was covering the water.

Rachel seeing this swam over quickly and supported most of the twenty one year old's weight as she slung his other arm over her back. She looked at the wound on his head and frowned, it looked serious and she saw Kuu with a pale face run over to them looking horror struck. Kyoko saw this and then something in her eyes told her that Ren's accident wasn't just a random person's accident to Kuu it meant more.

Kyoko looked at Ren before remembering something she had learned at the ryokan, CPR, it was strange that she knew CPR from just being a child but it was a useful skill to have. Letting her lips touch his she tried to resuscitate Ren but it wasn't working. As she tried again Nick came over and looked at him before giving Kyoko some advice on what to do.

Finally Ren coughed, his eyes though looked dead and they could hear the sound of the ambulance and medics that were on hand. Kyoko paused before seeing Ren close his eyes again and then forgot the way she was dressed, her hair and everything, at that moment it was just her, Kyoko, and Ren that mattered.

As Ren was carried away she saw Julie start to break down looking around worried about what was going on. She then saw Kuu walk over to her as the other girls were talking between themselves. Kyoko froze, was Julie-san really sensitive to these issues since she seemed completely scared about Tsuruga-san, however she heard Kuu's voice next, "Don't worry...I'm sure the gash was nothing, I'm sure that he's going to be alright."

"But Kuon..." she choked as Kyoko tilted her head to the side as she watched from behind them where they couldn't see her. Was this something that brought back memories of their son? Had their son died in the same way when he was fifteen years old...it did sound like something he would do. "Our baby Kuu..."

"Ssh," Kuu whispered, "Not here, wait until we're alone," he told her, "No one needs to know until he says so."

"But...he's not Tsuruga Ren," Julie whispered although Kyoko was still able to hear her, "He's Hizuri Kuon."

Kyoko froze allowing those words to work their way into her mind. _Ren is Kuon? _She asked before tears started to gather up in her eyes but she didn't know whether it was from the shock of everything, from the feeling of being deceived or from the worry of Ren. She just knew at that moment she was not being Aiko but instead herself. Her heart pained in her chest with want for news of Ren.

**End Chapter Twelve**

AN: I'd also like to thank one of my favorite people on this site, Cindersarah for her input into what could happen, she inspired this chapter with her review.

So do you think Ren should come out okay? Have brain damage? Do you think the contest should still continue until Kyoko wins?

Please review and let me know your thoughts

~Myst


	14. Chapter Thirteen :: An End to the Game?

**AN: **So people, especially Cindersarah (bestest RP partner ever), may dislike this chapter since I made it more dramatic but the game is still there just with more drama. I know that for now I might have like 0 reviews on the future chapters but it's still going to have romantic scenes as you'll find at the end.

**Chapter Thirteen :: An End to the Game?**

**Twelve Hours Later**

Yashiro waited alone at the hospital in the waiting room, he had been sent here to check on the situation with Ren being the closest, apart from the president, to Ren and had been waiting for any news. He felt so sleep deprived and was currently looking through a book of the international jobs that Ren had to do, jobs that would be cancelled if he didn't pull through. The latest he had heard Ren had been in a coma and only family members could enter but the president had told him that "Ren Tsuruga" didn't have any relatives he knew about.

He sighed before picking up the book he had brought with him, an old English novel that he didn't quite remember the original title to. It had been translated into Japanese though and so he was pretty comfortable reading it, not that he didn't know English he was actually incredibly skilled at languages. Taking another deep breath in he looked up and stared at the time on the wall, two thirty in the morning, perhaps it would be best to come back later he couldn't actually do anything here.

"Yukihito-san?" a nurse asked coming over to him and seeing his tiredness, "You are aware that visiting hours are over,"

"I know," Yashiro nodded putting the novel down, "He's a friend of mine and my client. If you could give me..."

"He's not doing too well, he's still unconscious and we're thinking it could possibly be a coma though we're not definite on it. We've had to shave his hair to sort to his head, the wound was quite deep," the nurse explained, "Now I'm not supposed to tell you everything since you're not family however I can tell you that he probably has some brain injury."

"Alright," Yashiro said with a deep breath out, he put his hands on his knees and leaned forwards. "I'll wait and see the results," he told the nurse.

"Then would you care to come in now?" the nurse asked and Yashiro stood, "I'll let you sit with him, it's rather unfortunate that his family isn't here. Do you know of a girlfriend that he's seeing?"

"He doesn't," Yashiro began awkwardly, he was thinking of requesting Kyoko by his side or Aiko more like but he wouldn't be able to come up with an excuse.

"Oh..." the nurse nodded, "Well it's good that you're here."

Yashiro smiled weakly before entering the room to find an injured, bald, Ren laying in the bed attached to many machines and devices. He selected a chair by the door and then waited as the nurse left him. He started to open his book and read hoping that soon Ren would open his eyes and it would all return to normal, that the dating game would resume.

**Six Hours Later**

Yashiro sat still in the hospital room, his eyes had finally closed and he was trying to think of happier dreams about him with a dog. His eyes opened tiredly as he sat in the hospital room and then looked over at Ren. He paused before seeing that his friend had his head leaning to the side looking in his direction rather than straight back as it had been before? Had he moved? "Ren?" he asked

Ren's eyes opened slowly and he looked at his manager, "Ya-shiro," he said weakly staring at him before laughing in a weird fashion as Yashiro stared at him. He cringed from the pain of his head even though he was on painkillers.

"Ren are you alright?" Yashiro asked nervously, "Would you like me to get a doctor...or Kyoko?" he teased not knowing how well placed that joke was right now though.

"I..." Ren stared at him, why did it hurt now to think? "I ha'to back"

"What?" Yashiro asked as he looked at Ren before his heart sunk, what was his charge trying to tell him? "Your back hurts?" he guessed

"No...head," Ren told him before looking down and tried to force out the missing words, "M-y- head...k-ill" He stared down before banging his fist on the bed angry that he couldn't find the right words to express himself anymore.

"Yes," Yashiro told him, "I expect it would..." he said slowly, "Shall we get Aiko here to nurse you?" he joked teasingly knowing that because Ren was in this state they would probably have to end the contest, which wasn't fun.

"I fine," Ren told him back in this creepy manner as Yashiro looked at him.

"Ren," he said sympathetically, "Do you think that after this you should start acting again?" he asked as Ren shook his head.

"I fine...tonight..show to do," he replied

"Do you remember what the role is though?" Yashiro asked nervously as Ren stared at him, his head hurt but his memory was intact, it was just that the words he was saying weren't coming out as he meant them. It felt strangely that his thoughts were flying by too quickly for his body and his mouth. He spoke in a slow, strained manner.

"I...date" Ren said slowly, "Ten girl..."

_I'm not sure they'll want to date this Ren though, _Yashiro thought mournfully before sighing, if Ren was determined to do this he'd have to learn in time how his new condition made him seen by the Japanese public starting with those girls who remained. Hearing his cell phone ring Yashiro put on a glove and left the room.

**Twenty Minutes Later**

Lory entered the beach house where the girls were staying in wait for what was in store for them. He called all of them to the front room and then looked at them to report what Yashiro said. He looked at the three Love Me girls the most before announcing, "According to the doctors and what I have just heard from Yukihito-san who is currently with Ren, Ren is currently undergoing traumatic brain injury because of the fall, we're certain that he's going to pull through but he's not going to be the same. It'll probably take a few years for him to recover."

Aiko froze feeling as if her heart had broken, this was the end of the actor! Because of her he had misjudged the gap and failed himself, he had made an error in judgment that would be carried with him forever. She saw some of the other girls staring at her and Rachel who had tears in her eyes.

"So..." Yumi said, "He's messed up in the head now or something?" at this all the girls looked at her shocked. "I'm not willing to stay here with someone like that."

Rachel lifted a hand as if to slap Yumi before putting it down, "I would still want to go out with a Ren like that, he is still Ren afterall."

"Ren wants to continue this show until the end. He feels that if you want to work with him on this project then he will do so of course the prize package will be changed as I feel that America is now off the table, however the idea of this contest was to show love and I feel that if you really love someone or want to love them you wouldn't want to leave. So...anyone who feels uncomfortable may go now," he told the girls, "Or you may go when you see how bad the condition is, as for those girls I specially invited you will have no consequences for leaving now if you find yourself unable to play the game anymore."

There was a deep silence and Kyoko looked down, if she continued to be Aiko she could take care of Ren but if she left she wouldn't have to fear loving him or the pain of what would happen afterwards.

"For anyone who feels like leaving the show please follow me," Jelly said at the corner as a couple of the girls turned to leave. Kyoko felt her heart pound as she tried to decide what to do. Once those girls had left Kyoko looked back at who had continued to be there. Rachel was standing firmly alone whilst Akane and Kairi were sitting together, Ran and Hikari were also sitting together and then she spotted a face she didn't expect, Kokoro!

_Moko-san?_ She asked teary eyed as she found the seven of them alone together, _Why are you here Moko-san?_

Kanae sighed and came towards Kyoko, "Even if I don't love him like you might..." she whispered to her friend as Kyoko paled and shook her head quickly, "I still care about and love you like a friend, ugh...I think Kokoro rubbed off on me."

"Thank you Kokoro-san!" Aiko said with tears in her eyes at that, Now she had to figure out if she could love an injured Kuon.

**End Chapter Thirteen**

**AN: **So depending on amount of time I have tomorrow I may update this tomorrow if not I'll try to on Tuesday but I can only promise you that by Friday there will be a new chapter. Sorry if that sounds long to everyone else.

Please support me in continuing this work


	15. Chapter Fourteen :: Wounds

**AN: **I have recently realized that I have been having writers block because I can't find new things about Skip Beat that excite and motivate me to write. I love reviews though but that sometimes isn't enough. I might start watching the anime for a fourth time, but why you ask am I continuing now? Because Part 1 Episode 7 of the Drama was incredibly cute and I knew I had to inflict some damage onto that poor, young Kuon.

**Chapter Fourteen :: Wounds**

Yashiro paused as he waited outside the hospital room where Ren and the president were currently speaking. Ren had already been told about his condition, he was suffering a frontal head wound which had caused a series of problems both mental and physical. However, most of the things that Ren was suffering from could be fixed in time and for that time he, Yashiro, had decided to do office work in order to support his client or charge when he got back.

Taking a deep breath in and leaning back to take in what had been happening with Ren he paused before catching a shadow against the wall and blinked. The person however took a few steps back and the shadow was gone. That was strange, this was the outside of the hospital room surely there would be people passing by, this action of this person was strange.

"Hello?" the manager asked before hearing a crash sound and stood up to find a girl bowing to a nurse and helping her pick up the things she was carrying. "Aiko?" he asked confused as to why she would be here but he grinned. It was natural that Kyoko would sneak in to see Ren wasn't it.

"Ah," Aiko panicked as Kyoko screamed inside her head, she had wanted to sneak in here and make sure that she could see Ren in private. She had even snuck into the back of the president's car to come which of course the president had known about. "Yukihito-san," she tried to bow but then remembered her character and just stood there with a shrug, "Yo," she tried.

"Aiko-san," Yashiro nodded before smiling, "Why are you here?" he looked down wondering what Kyoko's response would be to Ren's new condition, his fate in other words.

"I..." Aiko said nervously, "I came as a representative for the girls," she told him as he nodded accepting that reason but only because he hadn't really cared what reason she gave, he was just happy to see her there.

"Of course," the brunette replied, "That's not a surprise, it's good to see you Aiko-san."

"How is he?" Aiko asked nervously, her heart pounding in her chest, "Is he doing okay...I feel responsible for what happened, if I hadn't been wandering off..." she trailed off but tears came to her eyes showing how nervous she had been about all of this.

"He's..." Yashiro sighed before shaking his head, "He's not doing so well,"

"Oh?" Aiko asked her eyes dimming before she heard the door open and tried to hide but the president looked at her and chuckled, he should be mad but he just admired how much this girl cared about her sempai. "President Takarada," she said her back straightening.

"You can go see him now," Lory told her kindly, "We'll discuss your reasons for coming later at the house."

"O-Okay," Aiko said nervously before taking a deep breath and tried to prepare herself for whatever was behind that door. With another breath in to bring up her confidence she knocked and poked her head in. "Hello Ren-san,"

Ren nodded in response, his eyes widening at her seeing him with his head bandaged but it still showed that his hair was gone. "Ai...ko" he said slowly as Aiko grinned and went to sit down next to him. From just saying her name he felt a weakness as if he wouldn't mean anything to this girl if she knew his true condition.

"How are you feeling? The girls are worried about you," she laughed as he reached out for her.

"I..." he struggled, "I'ot"

Aiko made a strange face not sure if she had heard that wrong but that brought Ren to feel more vulnerable, "What?" she asked fearing that he was confused, "Is the pain medication making you feel funny?" she laughed before Ren shook his head

"Aphasia" Ren managed to get out, "I...can't...pro'ly"

"You can't speak properly?" Aiko asked before blinking, why hadn't Yashiro told her about this. "Oh well we can write it down if you want," she suggested her heart breaking but then looked at him and saw his frown.

"No...not either" he said as Aiko bit her bottom lip, if Ren couldn't speak or write how could they interact or communicate properly.

"O...kay" she said slowly with a smile, "I..." she bowed her head before hearing him say something he didn't mean to.

"Love Kyoko" he blurted out before putting a hand to his mouth and bowed his head cringing as Aiko looked at him.

_What does he mean by that...is he trying to give me a lecture about love? Why would anyone do that? Wait...does he know who I am? _She stared at him seeing his depression and shook her head trying to deny things, "Where's this depression come from?" she asked, "Where's the strong Ren Tsuruga who is seen on interviews."

"No' here..." Ren replied looking at her, "I k-now you" he told her, "See righ'...you"

Kyoko looked at him and her eyes widened, "Of course you know me...listen Ren I'm sorry that I wandered off and thank you for being protective."

"Love you..." he smiled back at her as she blinked.

"You love Aiko?" she asked as he shook his head and reached out to him with his good hand, he cupped her cheek with his hand.

"No..." he replied weakly, "K'oko"

Aiko blinked before laughing, "And I thought I could trick you, I'm so sorry for being so disrespectful..." she panicked before doing a dogeza as Ren stared at her in wonder. "I'm sorry Ren...but" she looked at him, "I don't love you."

"Know," he nodded but then pointed to his head, "No one love...brain da'age"

"No not that..." she whispered, "I'm scared...Kuon"

**End Chapter Fourteen**

**AN: **Okay really short but I find it really hard to write more for this series. I think it's because for come March for three years straight I will have either roleplayed or written Skip Beat work. I think I've exhausted the series.


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